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.ALBERT 



KANSAS CITY 


MO PUBLIC 


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DODQl D33D1S3 7 




A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PHRASES 




OF ENGLISH Phrases 

PHRASEOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS, CATCHWORDS, STEREOTYPED MODES OF SPEECH 
AND METAPHORS, NICKNAMES, SObHquetS, DERIVATIONS FROM PERSONAL 
NAMES, ETC. WITH EXPLANATIONS AND THOUSANDS OF EXACT REFERENCES 
TO THEIR SOURCES OR EARLY USAGE 


BY 

ALBERT M. HYAMSON, F.R. HIST.S. 

Author of A Dictionary of Universal Biography^ A Dictionary of the BihU^ 
A Dictionary of Artists and Art Terms, etc. 


LONDON : 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS. LTD. 
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 




®0 Utam 




PREFACE 


It is somewhat dijB&cult, perhaps impossible, to define exactly the scope 
of the present volume. The title, A Dictionary of Phrases,^' gives the 
key to its intention, but does not unlock the whole of its contents. It 
may be described as a book about terms and phrases that have been 
incorporated in the English language. An endeavour has been made to 
cover the whole field of phrases, but so far as the terms, for the most part 
single words, are concerned, as far as possible only those have been included 
which owe their existence not so much to a process of natural development, 
a course to which all words and phrases owe their present form, but in 
response to some sudden demand to meet some sudden emergency. For 
instance, crises in British history, such as wars, have brought many words 
directly into the language — maffick, camouflage, poilu, and others. 
Inventions and discoveries have brought yet others, e,g,. Lyddite, Bessemer 
steel, C cesarean operaiion. Historical personages, and heroes and villains 
of romance, have formed yet another means of enriching the language. 
From this source come such words as to hector, a Solomon, a Siiggtns, 
Words of this character have come direct into the language and are still 
practically unchanged. The process of their development has hardly 
yet commenced. As part of a living language they will undergo changes 
so as ultimately perhaps, in certain cases, to be barely recognizable. 
And centuries hence, when some successor in the same field takes up his 
pen to prepare another “ Dictionary of Phrases,'* he may find in the 
present work a guide to the first stages of many words that might other- 
wise prove to be insoluble puzzles. The words of this class that are to 
be found in the following pages are in every case derived from proper 
names. In dealing with material of this description there is a natural 
tendency to include too many words, to take, for instance, a classical 
name, to place an indefinite article before it and then introduce it as the 
description of a class. This temptation has, however, been evident to 
the writer throughout, and he has steadfastly endeavoured to avoid it, 
rejecting all such words for the use of which he has been unable to find 
good authority. 

A kindred class of phrases is that formed by the appropriation of the 
name of a classical hero, of a city, etc., to some modem successor. Such 
are the Briareus of Languages, the Carthage of the North, the Russian 
Byron, Here again the temptation to insert attributions has been great, 
but it has been resisted. An independent authority has always been 
found before any such descriptive title has been admitted to the volume. 
Descriptions of this character form but a part of a larger class which may 
be entitled nicknames, although they are not altogether nicknames in 
the narrow sense, and in almost every instance there is a good historical 
reason for attaching the appellation to the person or place concerned. In 

ix 



PREFACE 


X 

many instances the reason is self-evident, e.g.. The Brighton of Scotland, 
and explanation is nn necessary. Where, however, it is thought that an 
explanation is called for it is given. 

A third class of words that have been included in this work are those 
which are usually to be found in slang dictionaries. They consist of 
slang words and colloquialisms that have degenerated, and references are 
generally given to the former position of the words in question in literary 
English. Side by side with these are to be found other words, which 
have ascended in the scale, and although of low, vulgar origin, are now 
received in the best social circles. In treating of words belonging to this 
third cleLSs there may sometimes have been some anticipation, words having 
been included which have not yet obtained admission to the highest circles, 
but which one is justified in expecting will shortly secure that privilege. 
An endeavour has, in fact, been made to exclude ordinary slang words 
and phrases, but so rapid has been the development of the English 
language, especially during the recent war, in the course of which it was 
enriched but not always embellished by new phrases and words, that it 
has at times proved very difficult to decide. However, those words and 
phrases of which there is a promise of permanency have been included, 
but in deciding the author has had to rely on instinct rather than on 
judgment. 

Many foreign words and phrases that have become incorporated in the 
English language without change also find their places in the following 
pages. 

A large proportion of the following items consists not of words but of 
phrases. Many of them belong to one or another of the classes that have 
already been mentioned. But phrases give one a wider opportunity than 
do words. The number of phrases in current use in the English language 
that are in fact metaphors, although the user seldom stops to notice the 
fact, is legion. Nearly all words and phrases are, of course, in their 
ultimate origin metaphors, but in most cases the metaphor has been 
concealed by the deposits of ages. However, there are still a very large 
number of phrases in which the metaphor is patent to anyone who stops 
for a moment to look for it. One of the purposes of the present volume 
is to collect for the curious these metaphorical phrases and to throw a 
little light on their origins and on their growth. Here one comes closely 
into contact with proverbs. But proverbs have not been included qua 
proverbs. A dictionary of proverbs deserves a volume to itself. Only 
when a proverb has given rise to a word or phrase which is in fact a crystal 
of the proverb has attention been given to it. 

In many instances the earliest known — or an early — use of the phrase is 
mentioned — in a few instances a parallel phrase in a foreign language. 
References are also given to the origin of foreign phrases that are now 
part of the English language. 

The present volume, although it contains some fourteen thousand 
entries, is necessarily imperfect, for no work of this description can well 
be complete. Even if an author with superhuman self-confidence is 
satisfied with his work, there are sure to be hosts of critics to point out 
deficiencies, and it is seldom that they are not justified. There is, there- 



PREFACE 


xi, 

fore, no desire to put forward a claim to exhaustiveness, and the author 
will welcome suggestions for additional entries for incorporation in a second 
edition of the work, if the demand for the present one justifies it. In 
preparing the list of words and phrases with which he has dealt, he has 
had to rely mainly on the notes he has made in the course of his reading, 
but the nucleus of the list, and a very large nucleus, he owes to 3Mr. 
William Swan Stallybrass, who very generously placed unreservedly at 
his disposal his own vast collection of words and phrases made in the 
course of catholic reading during a long period of years, together with 
scores of thousands of extracts from writers from the Homeric age to 
the present time. In fact, if it had not been for Mr. Stallybrass, from 
whom the suggestion for the book first came and whose wide knowledge 
and critical advice were always at the disposal of the author, it is very 
doubtful whether the book would ever have been brought into being. 
Finally, it is desired to point out that this book, although of the nature 
of a dictionary, is not intended to be used merely as a dictionary. If it is 
so used it will fail of its full purpose. It is hoped that it will be consulted 
whenever enlightenment is desired on any word or phrase that is proper 
to its scope. It is hoped also that when the reader turns to it for reference 
he will find it suf&ciently interesting to induce him to turn from entry 
to entry and browse on it before he closes the book and returns to that 
which &st sent him to it. Only in such a case will the book have justified 
the work that has been put into it. 


A. M. H, 




A FEW OF THE 

PRINCIPAL REFERENCE WORKS CONSULTED 


Bartlett (J.). Familiax Quotations, gtii edition. 1898. 

Bent (S. A.) . Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. New edition, 1887. 

BoRCKARr>T (W.). Die SprichwQrtlichen Redensarten im deutschen 
Volksmunde, 5th edition. By G. Wustmann. Leipzig, 1895. 

Brewer (E. C.). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. New edition, n.d. 

(1894). 

The Reader's Handbook. New edition. 1898. 

BiicHMANN (G.). Gefliigelte Worte. i6th edition. By W. Robert- 
tomow. Berlin. 1889. 

Century Cyclopaedia of Names, edited by B. E. Smith. 1894. 

Dawson (L. H.). Historical Allusions. 1907. 

Dixon (J. M.). Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases. 1912. 
Edwards (E.). Words, Facts and Phrases. 1882. 

Encyclopaedia Britannica. 9th and loth editions, 1875-1903. 
Encyclopaedic Dictionary. 

Farmer (J. S.). Americanisms — Old and New. 1889. 

and Henley (W. E.). Slang and its Analogues, Past and Present. 

7 vols. i890-i90,i|. 

Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English. (The above abridged) - 

1905. 

Fennell (C. A. M.) Stanford Dictionary of Anglicized Words and Phrases. 
Cambridge. 1 892 . 

Foster (J). A Shakespeare Word-book, n.d. (1908). 

Fournier (E.). L'Espiit des Autres Recueilli. Paris. 1879. 
Gentleman's Magazine (The). 1731—1873. 

Halliwell (J. O.). Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words. 6th 
edition. 1904. 

Harbottle (T. B.). Dictionary of Historical Allusions. 1904. 

Heywood (John). Proverbs and Epigrams {1562). Spenser Society. 
1884. 

Hotten. (Pub.) Slang Dictionary (1873;. New edition, n.d. (1891). 

Jamieson (J.). Etymological Dictionary of Scottish. 2 vols.; Supple- 
ment, 2 vols. Edinburgh. 1808-25. 

Johnson (T. H.). Phrases and Names. 

Jones (H. P.). New Dictionary of Foreign Phrases. New edition. 1902. 
Latham (E.). Dictionary of Names, Nicknames and Surnames. 1904. 

Famous Sa3rings and Their Authors. 1904. 

Lean (V. S.). Collectanea. 4 vols. in 5. 1902—4. 

Lemprzere (J,). A Classical Dictionary. New edition. 1919* 

xiii. 



PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED. 


xiv. 

Mackay (C.). Glossary of Obscure Words and Phrases. 1887, 

Murray (Sir J. H.), etc. New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. 
Oxford. 188S sqq. 

Nares (R,). Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names and Allusions. New 
edition. By J. O. Halliwell and Thomas Wright. 1905* 

Paumer (A. Smyth). Folk-Etymology: A Dictionary. 1882. 

Rozan (C.). Petites Ignorances de la Conversation, nth edition. 
Paris. 1887. 

Petites Ignorances Historiques et Litt^raires. Paris. 1888. 

Skeat (W. W,). Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 
Oxford. 1882. 

Smith (H. P.). Glossary of Terms and Phrases. 1883. 

Spence (Lewis). Encyclopaedia of Occultism. 1920. 

SvARTENGREN (J. H.) . Intensifying Similes in English. 

Trench (R. C.). A Select Glossary of English Words used foimerly in 
senses different from their present. New edition. 

Walsh (W. S.). Handy Book of Literary Curiosities. 1894. 

Ware (J. R.). Passing English of the Victorian Era. 1909. 

Weatherby (C.). Routledge*s New Dictionary of the English Language. 
1914. 

Wheeler (W. A.). Familiar Allusions. 1882. 



ABBREVIATIONS 


A.-S. 

s= Anglo-Saxon 

Consp. 

A.V. 

—Authorized Version 

Contemp. 

Abbrev. 

— Abbreviation 

Contr. 

Acc. 

= According 

Cor. 

Adm. 

—Admiral 

Comip, 

Admin. 

s= Administrative 

'Ct. 

Adv. 

= Adverb 

ettee. 

Afr. 

= African 

D. 

Agric. 

= Agricultural 

Dem. 

Alex. 

= Alexander 

Dept. 

Amb. 

= Ambassador 

Der. 

Amer. 

— American 

Dial. 

Anc. 

= Ancient; anciently 

Dimin. 

Antiq. 

= Antiquities 

Dist. 

Arab. 

= Arabian ; Arabic 

Div. 

‘^Arch. 

= Architecture 

e.g. {exempli 

Assoc. 

= Association 

gratia) 

Astrol. 

—Astrological 

Eccles. 

Astron. 

== Astronomical 

Econ. 

Aug. 

s= August ; Augustus 

Edw. 

Aust, 

= Austrian 

Eliz. 

Austral. 

Australian 

Emp. 

B.C. 

— Before Christ 

Eng. 

Batt. 

= Battalion 

Equiv. 

Bee, 

= Because 

Esp. 

Belg. 

= Belgian 

Est. 

Bibl. 

= Biblical 

Etseq. {Et 

Bot. 

= Botanist 

sequent es) 

Brit. 

= British 

Europ. 

C. {civea) 

= About 

Exam. 

Camb. 

= Cambridge 

Exch. 

Canad. 

= Canadian 

Fav. 

Cap. 

= Capital 

Fig. 

Card. 

= Cardinal 

FI. 

. Cath. 

= Catholic 

Flem. 

Cent. 

Century; Central 

Fndr. 

Cf. (confer) 

= Compare 

For. 

Ch. 

= Church 

Form. 

Chas. 

= Charles 

Fr. 

Chem. 

— Chemist ; chemistry 

Fred. 

Chin. 

= Chinese 

Gen. 

Christ. 

= Christian 

Geo. 

Class. 

= Classical 

Germ. 

CoU. 

— College 

Gov. 

CoUoq. 

= Colloquialism ; colloquial ; 

Govt. 


colloquially 

Grk. 

Comb. 

= Combination 

Heb. 

Cong. 

== Congress 

Hind. 

Conseq. 

— Consequently 

Hist. 

Conserv. 

— Conservative 

Hse. 


Conspirator 

Contemptuously 

Contraction 

Corintnians 

Corruption 

Count " 

Committee 

Died 

Democratic 
Department 
Derivation ; derived 
Dialect 
Diminutive 

District ; distinguished 
Divine 

For example 
Ecclesiastical 
Economic ; Economist 
Edward 

Elizabeth ; Elizabethan 
Emperor 

England; English 
Equivalent 
Especially f 
Established 

sAnd following 
= European 
= Examination 
= Exchange 
= Favourite 
= Figuratively 
= Flourished 
= Flemish 
= Founder 
—Foreign 
= Formerly 
= French 
= Frederick 
= General 
= George 
= German 
= Governor 
= Government 
= Greek 
= Hebrew- 
's Hindustani 
= Historian 
—House 


XV. 



xvi. 


ABBREVIATIONS 


Hy. 

i.e. {id est) 

Imp. 

Indiv. 

Ind. 
Inbab. 
Inv. ' 

It. 


Jap. 

Jas. 

Jos. 

Joum. 

^Kg. 

Lang. 

Lat. 

Lib. 

Lieut. 

Lit. 

M,E. 


-Marq. 

Marsh. 

Mathem. 

Matt. 

Med. 

Metaph. 

Metro. 

Mil. 

Min. 

Moham. 

Myth. 

N.T. 


Naut. 

Nonconf. 

O.-E. 


Orig. 

O.T. 

Oxf, 

Pari. 


Part. 


Pert. 

Pers. 

Philos. 


= Henry 
—That is 
= Imperial 
= Individual 
= Indian 
= Inhabitant 
= Inventor 

— Italian 
=Bs Japanese 
= James 

= Joseph 
=ss Journalist 

— King ^ 

= Language 
= Latin 
=* Liberal 
= Lieutenant 
=5 Literally 
—Middle English 
= Marquis 
== Marshal 
= Mathematician 
—Matthew 
= Medieval 
= Metaphorically 
= Metropolitan 
= Military 
—Minister 
= Mohammedan 
= Mythology 
a=New Testament 
= Nautical 
s= Nonconformist 
*= Old-English 
= Originally ; origin 
s=01d Testament 
s= Oxford 
s= Parliament 

—Particular; particularly 
s= Pertaining 

— Persian 

= Philosopher ; philosophy 


Polit. 

— Political ; Politician 

Pop. 

— Popular 

Port. 

= Portuguese 

Poss. 

— Possibly 

Pres. 

— President 

Presbyt. 

=« Presbyterian 

Prev. 

— Previous ; previously 

Prob. 

= Probably 

Prot. 

= Protestant 

Prov. 

= Province; proverb 

q.v. {quod 
vide) 

=!= which see 

R.C. 

= Roman Catholic 

R.C. Ch. 

= Roman Catholic Churcl 

Ilgad. 

Regt. 

= Radical ^ 

== Regiment 

Rel- 

= Religious 

Rep. 

= Republic; Republican 

Rev. 

— Revolution 

Revol. 

= Revolutionary 

Rich. 

— Richard 

Rob. 

— Robert 

Rom. 

^ Roman 

Russ. 

— Russian 

Sam. 

= Samuel 

Scand. 

= Scandinavian 

Scot. 

—Scottish 

Sec. 

—Secretary 

Soc. 

« Society 

Span. 

— Spanish 

Sqq. (se- 
quentBs) 

ssssAnd following 

Subseq. 

=» Subsequently 

Swed. 

=* Swedish 

T.C.P. 

=* Trinity College, Dublin 

Tech. 

« Technical ' 

TheoL 

= Theologian; theology 

Thos. 

= Thomas 

Trans. 

= Translation ; translate! 

U.S. 

=s United States 

Univ. 

University 

Wm. 

^William 



DICTIONARY OF PHRASES 


Al] 

A1 : first class. From the symbol 
denoting ships in the best condition 
in Lloyds* Registry of Shipping* 
A denotes the quality of the vessel, 
1 that of its stores. Introduced into 
literature by Capt, Marryat in Peter 
Simple (1834)- 

a fortiori {Lot.) : with a stronger reason. 

[Whitaker, DispuU (1588)] 

& la {Fr.) : in the manner of. Employed 
by Thomas Gray 1716-71 in his 
letters, Ixiii. 

d la bonne heure {Fr. , at the good hour) : 
luckily. [Horace Walpole, Letters, p. 19 
(1762)] 

& la mode (Fr., in the manner) : fashion- 
ably. • [Nashe, The Unfortunate 
Traveller (1594)] 

d la mort {Fr.) : to the death. [Shakes- 
peare, I Henry VI, III, ii ; Wyrley, 
Armorie (1592)] 

d la vol6e {Fr., at the flight) : at random, 
inconsiderately. [Sir Thomas Browne, 
Religio Medici, Pt. II (1643)] 
d outrance [Fr,, to a finish) : to the 
bitter end. Originally applied to a 
contest between two antagonists, 
both determined to conquer or die. 
[Holland, Translation of Suetonius 
(1606)] 

a posteriori {JLat., from the latter) : from 
effect to cause. [Adams, Diary 

(1758)3 

a priori {Lot,, from the former) : of an 
argument from that which went before; 
from the antecedent. [P. Bayne, 
Commentary on Ephesians (1618)] 
d propos {Fr., to the purpose) : 

[Dryden, Mock Astrologer, V (1669)] 
a vincnlo matrimonii [Lat., from the 
bond of matrimony) : a complete 
divorce. [Coke, Littleton (1628)] 
Aaron’s beard : popular name of several 
plants, especially Great St. John's 
. Wort. 

Aaron’s rod : popular name of the Golden 
' Rod ; also of Great Mullein. 

Aaron’s serpent. An : that which is 
powerful enough to overcome and 
neutralise all rivals. lExodus, vii, 
T0-12] 


[Abdael 

A.B., An : an able-bodied seaman, the 
lowest rank but one in the Royal 
Navy. 

Ab extra (Ea^.) : from without. [Thomas 
Gk)odwin, Works (1650)] 

Ab ovo {Lat,, from the egg) : from the 
beginning. Eggs formed the first 
dish at a Roman repast. [Sidney, 
Apologie for Poesie (1595)] 

Abaddon {Heb.) : the destroying angel ; 
hell. IRev. ix, ii ; Bunyan, Pilgrim* s 
Progress (1678)] 

Abaton, As inaccessible as : the Abaton 
was the fortification erected by the 
Rhodians aronnd the statue of Rhodes 
erected by Artemisia. 

Abbas Letitiee : see Abb 6 de Liesse. 

Abbd de Liesse {Fr.) : the Abbot of 
Jollity, Abbot of Misrule {q.v,)* 

Abbethdin : a Lord Chancellor. Properly 
a principal judge in a Jewidi court of 
law. [Dryden, Absalom and Achi^ 
tophel, Pt. I, ii, 188-91 (1681)] 

Abbey Laird : an insolvent debtor. 
After the Abbey of H^lyrood, the 
precincts of which were a sanctuary 
for insolvent debtors. 

Abbey Lubber: a lazy monk, or other idler. 

In general use after the Reformation. 
Abbot of Idismle, Lord of Iflisrnle : the 
Master of the Ceremonies at the 
Christmas celebrations. See also 
Abbot of Unreason ; Abb 6 de Liesse. 

Abbot of Unreason : in Scotland, Master 
of -tdie mediaeval Christmas revels. 

ABC book : see Absey book, 

A B C-darian : see Abecedarian. 

ABC nations : originally Argentina, 
Brazil, and Chile. Subsequently 
extended to the Latin States of South 
America. 

A B C of . .The : the elementary principle 
or rudiments of. .[Dekker, The GuUVs 
Horn Book, ch. 6 (1609)] 

ABC Process, The : the manufacture 
of manure from alum, blood and clay, 
its principal ingredients. 

Abdael: George Monk, 3rd Duke of 
Albemarle. So called by Dryden in 
Absalom and Achitophel, after Abdiel 
in Milton's Paradise Lost, Bk. V (1665) • 

B 



Abdetitan] 

Abderitan ; foolish. Ftoux Abdera ^ in 
Thrace, proverbial for the stupidity 
of its inhabitants. 

Abderitan laughter: ceaseless, scof&ug 
laughter. From Democritos of 
Abdera, ‘the Laughing Philosopher.' 
An Abderite, a scofier. 

Abdul the Damned : Abdul Hamid II 
(1842-1918), Sultan of Turkey. So- 
called by Dr. Joseph Parker, on account 
of the Armenian atrocities perpetrated 
during bis reign. 

Abeoedmian : (i) a member of an 

Anabaptist sect of the 16th cent., 
which taught that believers could 
learn the Bible without knowing how 
to read ; (2) one engaged in learning 
or teaching the alphal^t. 

Abhoirexs : the predecessors of the 
Tories and Conservatives in English 
politics, who in 1680 si^ed addresses 
abhorring proposals to limit the power 
of the king. 

Abigail* An ; a lady’s maid. After the 
wife of Nabal (I Sam. xxv) . Abigail is 
‘ the waiting gentlewoman ' in Beau- 
mont and Fletcher, The Scornful 
tody (1616). 

Abingdon Law : ' Hang a man first and 
try him afterwards' — ^the policy of 
Major Brown of Abingdon, an officer 
in the Parliamentary Army in the 
Engli^ Civil War. Or, perhaps, from 
the execution without trial of the 
Irish prisoners taken by the Earl of 
Essex and Waller during the defence 
of Abingdon (1644-5), 

Aboard of . . To fall : to meet and abuse. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Abolitionistt An ; an advocate of the 
abolition of slavery in the U.S. Still 
earlier the term was applied in Great 
Britain to the advocates of the 
abolition of slavery. 

Abomination of Desolation* An : any 
thing very hateful or damaging; 
properly, the Roman standard (Mat. 
xxiv, 15), which, being set up in the 
Holy of Holies, was an abomination and 
brought destruction or desolation. 
Abonde, Dame : the French Santa 
Claus (q.v.). 

Aborigines : the earliest known inhabi- 
tants of a land, originally applied to a 
Central Italian tribe settled in Italy 
before the Roman period. From the 
Lat. ab origine (from the beginning). 

Above-board: straightforward, without 
concealment. Originally a gaming 
term, meaning above the table, afford- 


[Abxaxas 

ing no opportunity for the changing of 
cards or other form of cheating. 

Above par : a commercial term, used to 
indicate value in excess of the nominal 
value. Also used figuratively. 

Abracadabra : meaningless gibberish ; a 
magical charm used by the Gnostic 
sect of Basilides. The charm took the 
form of a triangle composed of the 
word repeated eleven times but on 
every occasion with the loss of one 
letter, so that on the last occasion it 
appeared as A only. Origin unknown ; 
first used in 2nd cent, by Q. ^venis 
Sammonicus. A suggested derivation 
is from the Heb. ab (father) ben (son) 
and ruach akodesh (holy spirit). 

Abraham man ; Abram man. An : a 
wandering beggar, one of a class that 
camo into existence after the dissolu- 
tion of the Monasteries ; esp. a lunatic 
beggar from Bethlehem (Bedlam) 
Hospital, whose wards were formerly 
named after different Saints. The in- 
mates of the Abraham ward were 
allowed to go out to beg in the streets 
on certain days. 

Abraham Newland. An : a Bank of 
England note. After the cashier 
whose signature was appended to eh‘e 
notes at the beginning of xgth c)nt. 
Abraham (Abram), To sham: (i to 
pretend, for begging purposes, to be 
insane (see Abraham man) ; (2) toforge 
a bank-note (see Abraham Newland). 

Abrahamio Covenant The: (i) the 
covenant entered into by God with 
Abraham, whereby the latter was to 
become the ancestor of a great nation 
and ultimately of the Messiah ; (2) 
the rite of circumcision, whereby 
Abraham's descendants dedicated 
themselves to the service of God. 

Abraham's Bosom : the repose of the 
blessed after death (Luhe xvi, 22). 
Prom the ancient practice of resting 
on the bosom of a friend. 

Abraham's Eye, An : a charm used to 
render a thief who refuses to confess 
his crime blind. 

Abram-eolonred : a corruption of auburn- 
coloured. [Shakespeare, Coriolanus, II, 
iii p 1607)] 

Abram man : see Abraham man. 

Abraxas Stones : gems used as amulets 
by the Basilides and engraved with 
the Abraxas, a magical word, probably a 
Gnostic title of God. Perhaps derived 
from -the Greek letter-numerals which 
make up the S3unbolic number 365. 



Abroad] 3 

Abroad* To be all : to have one's mind 
wandering from the subject. 

Absalom* Ai : an undutiful son. After 
Absalom the son of David (II Saw.). 
The Absalom in Dryden's satire 
Absalom and Achiiophel (1681-2) repre- 
sents James, Duke of Monmouth. 

Absentee Tax ; a tax on absentee Irish 
Umdlords, imposed in the reign of 
Richard II and attempted to be reim- 
posed in 1773. 

Absenteeism : the practice, esp. on the 
part of a landlord, of hving away from 
the source of one's income. Irish in 
origin. 

Absent-minded Beggar* An : an English 
common soldier. From a poem of 
that title by Rudyard Kipling (1900). 

Absey book. An : an A B C book or 
elementary spelling-book. [Shakes- 
peare, Ktng John, I, i (?I595)] 

Absolute* A Captain ; a persistent and 
high-spirited lover. After the charac- 
ter in Sheridan, The Rivals (1775). 

Absolute Monarchy : government by 
the absolute will of the monarch. 
[Francis, I-ord Bacon, Essays : Of 
Superstition (1624)] 

Absolute, A Sir Anthony ; an obstinate, 
passionate yet generous old man. 
After a character in Sheridan, The 
Rivals (1775)- 

Absquatulate, To : for a squatter 
suddenly to leave his holding. 

Abstainer* A Total : one who abstains 
entirely from alcoholic liquor. Former- 
ly a Nazarite. 

Acacetus : one who does nothing badly ; 
a name borne by the god Mercury. 
From the Grk. a (not) and kakos (bad). 

Academic Legion* An : an armed corps of 
students which participated in Euro- 
pean insurrections, esp, at Vienna in 
1848. 

Academy : an educational institution ; a 
learned society. From the School of 
Philosophy founded by Plato in the 
Garden of Academus, near Athens. 

Academy* French* The : a French associ- 
ation of the 40 members (the ‘ Forty 
Immortals ') supposed to be the most 
illustrious living French men-of-letters. 
Formally established in 1635 by Card. 
‘Richelieu for controlling the French 
language and directing literary taste. 

Academy headache* An : a headache due 
to attention to picture and other 
similar exhibitions. Phrase coined, 
1885, with reference to the Royal 
Academy Exhibition. 


[Achates 

Acadia : an early French name for Nova 
Scotia. After the river Shubenacadie. 

Accessory after the Fact* An : one who 
shields or assists a criminal, knowing 
him to be guilty of the crime. [A 
Warning for Faire Women, II, 1, 1289 

(1599)] 

Accessory before the Fact* An : one who 
is aware of the intention on the part of 
another to commit a crime, but does 
not disclose that intention, [A Warning 
for Faire Women, 11, 1. 1289 (1599)] 

Accident of an Accident* An : high birth. 
First used by Lord Thurlow (1731- 
1806), Lord Chancellor, in a debate in 
tne House of Lords, 

Account of* To give a good : to punish 
severely. 

Account, Of small : of little consequence. 
[Lyly, Euphues (1579)] 

Account, To call to : to demand an ex- 
planation of. [Francis Bacon, Essays: 
Of Friendship (1625)] 

Account, To go to one’s : to die. 

Account* To turn to : to make use of. 

Accusative, The : John Calvin (1509-64), 
the founder of Protestantism. So- 
called by his college companions from 
his habit of accusing error, 

Ace* To bate an : to hesitate ; to show 
reluctance. Properly, to give a com- 
petitor a slight advantage. An ace is 
the lowest numeral. The phrase is 
said to have originated at the court of 
Henry VIII, from the mouth of Bolton, 
one of his courtiers. [Wm. Haughton, 
Englishmen for My Money, II, ii (1597)] 

Ace of. Within an : On ^e point of. 

' Ace ' in the sense of a jot or tittle, a 
pla3dng-card with a solitary pip. 

Aceldama : a field of slaughter. After 
rile ‘ field of blood ' bought by Judas 
with the money derived from the 
betrayal of Jesus. 

Acephahtes : religious sects that acknow- 
ledged no worldly superiors. Grk., 
a (not, without) and kephale (a head). 

Aceetes, The arrow of : Acestes, a 
Sicilian competitor in a contest, dis- 
charged his arrow with such rapidity 
that it caught fire. [Virgil, Mneid, V, 
525; Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy 
(1621)] 

Achaian prophet. The blind : Tiresias, the 
legendary blind prophet of Thebes. 

A chan* An : a looter. After the biblical 
personage who was stoned to death for 
looting {Joshua, vii). 

Achates* A Fidus : a trusty friend. After 
Achates, Eneas' faithful friend. 



Adieron] 

[Virgil, Mn&id, I, i88 ; Turner, 
LeUer to Fox (c. 1587)] 

AohBton l the lower world. After a 
fabulous river in that region. 

Acheron, Food for : see Pabulum 
Acherontis. 

Acheron, The Pit of : see Acheron. 

Adiermda Palus {Lat., the Acherusian 
bog) ; the lower world. After the 
name of several small lakes in Pontus 
which were supposed to be connected 
with Hades, 

Achilles* An 2 a splendid military hero. 
After the King of the Myrmidons in 
Thessaly, the central character of 
Homer's Iliad, and the Greek hero of 
the Trojan War. 

Achilles of England, The : (1) the Duke of 
Wellington (1769-1852) ; (2) John 

Talbot, ist Earl of Shrewsbury (1373- 

Addto of Germany, The : Albert III, 
Elector of Brandenburg (1414-86). 

Achilles of Rome, The : Lucius Licinius 
Dentatus (d. 450 B.C.), Roman 

Tribune. Also called The Second 
Achilles. 

Achilles of the West, The : Roland, the 
pa.ladin (8th cent.). 

Achilles, The heel of : a vulnerable spot. 
From the story of Achilles, who was 
held by the heel when dipped in the 
Styx to make him invulnerable, the 
heel being thus the one vulnerable 
spot in his body. 

Aci^es, The Second : Achilles ot Rome. 

Achilles tendon. The : the tendon whi(^ 
connects the heel with the calf ; 
see Achilles, The heel of. 

Aching Almanac An : rheumatism. 

“ Some men ('gainst raine) doe carry 
in their backs 

Prognosticating Aking Almanacks : 

Some by a painefuU elbow, hip, or 
knee, 

WiU shrewdly guesse what wether's 
like to be." 

[John Taylor, Drinke and Welcome 

An : sorrow caused by the 
recollection of a loss. [Cowper, walk^ 
ing with God] 

Aciitophel, An : a treacherous friend and 
adviser. After the man who seceded 
from David to Absalom. [II Saw.] 
Achitophel is also a character in 
Dryden's satire Absalom and Achito- 
phei (1681-2). 

A& pirate, An : a pirate who follows his 
calling on inland waters. 


[Aetsson 

Adhnowledge the com, To : to admit one- 
self beaten. From the story of an 
American countryman who, finding 
himself for the first time in New 
Orleans, was cheated at cards, losing, 
in addition to his money, two barges, 
one of com the other of potatoes, which 
he had brought to sell in the town. 
While he was gambling the barge of 
corn was accidentally sunk. When in 
the morning the creditor came to re- 
ceive his property, the debtor replied, 

‘ I acknowledge the com ; but the 
potatoes you can't have, by thunder 1 * 
Another suggested derivation is from 
a debate in the U.S. Congress in 
1828 between Andrew Stewart and 
Charles A. Wicklifie, which the latter 
concluded, ‘ I acknowledge the 
com.* 

Aomonian Wood, The : a trysting-place 
for the practice of immorality. From 
the spot where Mars met Harmonia to 
become the father of tlje Amazons. 

Acquaintance, A nodding : see Nodding 
Ac^aintance. 

Acre fight : a duel between English and 
Scots on the Border, erroneously 
derived horn the mistranslation of a 
mediaeval Lat. phrase in The Annals 
of Burton (1237). 

Acre, God^s ; a churchyard. ' Acre * in 
the sense of enclosed land. 

Acre shot, An : a charge rated per acre. 

Acres and a cow. Three : a small agri- 
cultural holding ; facilities for the 
acquisition of which by agricultural 
labourers were made by Jesse CoUings 
a part of the Radical Party's campaign 
previous to the General Election of 
1885. 

Acropolis, An : the fortified buildings in 
the centre of a Greek city, esp, the 
Acropolis of Athens. 

Across lots : by. a short cut. ' Lots ' 
means allotted or private property. 
The phrase was rendered famous by 
Brigham Young, the Mormon leader's 
tiireat, ' We'll send them (the Gentiles) 
to hell across lots.' 

Act o£ Faith : see Auto da F6. 

Act of God, An : an accident due to 
causes over which no man has control. 

Actseon, An : (i) a hunter ; (2) the 

husband of an unfaithful wife. 

Actsson-like : Actaeon, a hunter, who 
witnessed Diana bathing and as a 
punishment was turned by her into a 
stag, which was tom to pieces by his 
own hounds. 



Actsson] 5 [Address 

Actseon's hounds : see Actaeon-Iike. Adams, Parson : a simple, kind-hearted, 
[James Puckle, T?ie Club : * Dear honest old country clerg3^aii. After 

Kinsman* (1711)] a character in Fielding, Joseph 

Aotian years ; years in which the Actian Andrews (1742). 

Games instituted at Actium, in honour Adamant, A heart of : a cold, unemotion- 
of Apollo, were celebrated. able disposition, impervious to in- 

Aotion-sermon, An : a sacramental or fluence. The adamant is the diarnond. 

Communion discourse (Scottish). [Dzekieit iii, 9 ; and Greene, Selimus^ 

Adam, A Son (Child) of : a human being. II. 47-8 (1594)] 

After Adam, the first man. Adamant, As h^d as : as hard as the 

Adam, An : (i) a humorous epithet for a diamond. [Ovid, Heroides, X, 109 ; 

sergeant or bailiff who wore buff. and Lyly, Euphues (1579)] 

After Adam who ‘ wore his native Adaman^O ohain, An : an unbreakable 
buff.' [ShAkstsgeBxe, Comedy of Errors, bond. Prometheus Vincius] 

IV, iii] (2) a faitihifu], devoted old Ovid, Tristia, Bk. IV, viii, n, 45-6; 

servant. After a character in Shakes- and Milton, Paradise Lost, I, 48 (1667)] 

peare. As You Like It (1600). Adamite, An : (i) a descendant of 

A&m BeU, An : an accomplished archer. Adam ; (2) a member of a religious 

After a northern outlaw, celebrated for sect that practised nudity in imitation 

his archery. [Percy, Reliques, I of Adam. The sect fiourished at 

(1868)] intervals from 2nd to 19th cent. ; (3) 

Adam Cupid : Cupid as an archer : see an adherent of John Quincy Adams, 

Adam Bell. [Shakespeare, Romeo and loth president of the U.S. 

Juliet, II (1592)] ad captandum [Lot., for catching) : 

Adam, Father, : see Father Adam. addressed to ignorance, prejudice, etc., 

Adam furniture (etc.) : in the style of the rather than to reason. 

Brothers Adam (John, Robert, James, ad ommenam: An argument (La/., to the 
William), English architects who flour- purse, pocket); an argument that 

ished in the latter half of the 1 8th cent. appeals to one's material interests. 

Adam, Not to know froxp : to have no [Scott, Rob Roy, ch. 27 (r8i8)] 

knowledge of at all. ad hominem {Lot,, at the man) : of an 

Adam, The offend!^ : the original argument directed to the special 

inclination to evil in man. [Shakes- interest or feelings of the individual, 

peare, Henry V, I, i (1599)] instead of to abstract or general 

A&m, The old : man's natural tendency principles, 
towards evil. After Adam, the first ad valorem [Lai.): applied to customs 
man, who succumbed to temptation. and excise duties calculated on the 
[Romans, vi, 6, etc.] value of the goods on which they are 

Adam, As old as : in gdlusion to Adam, levied. Also used generally for ‘ up to 

the first man. Used as a rule in the value of the goods.' 
connection with stale news. Addison of the North, The : Henry 

Adam, The Second (New) : Jesus Christ. Mackenzie (i745**i®3i)» Scottish 

Adam's ale : water. The phrase was essayist and nov^st. _ 
introduced by the Puritans. [Pr3nine, Additio:^ division and silence : corrupt 
Sovereign Power of Parliament (1643)] practices supposed to be necessajy to 

Adam's apple : the thyroid cartilage an unscrupulous politician. Believed 

visible in the human throat; the to have been first used in a letter 

‘ huggle-guggle.' After the super- alleged to have been written by W.H. 

stition that it arose from a piece of the Kemble, State Treasurer of Pennsyl- 

forbidden fruit that stuck in Adam's vania, and published in the New York 

throat. Sun, March 15, 1872. 

Adam's arms : a spade, in allusion to Addled Parliament, The : summoned in 
the first man. 1614 and dissolved without having 

Adam's profession : gardening. On paissed any legislation, 

account of the occupation of Adam in Addle-headed (-pated) : muddle-headed, 
the Garden of Eden. An ' Adamist,' A metaphor derived from an addled 
a gardener. egg. ^ 

Adam's sm : disobedience. Address, The : the reply to the King s 

Adam's wine : Adam's ale (g.v.) (a Speech moved on the opening of a 

Scotticism). session of Parliament, 



Addaniado] 6 

Adelantado, An (Span,, ‘ His Ex- 
cellency *) : an important personage ; 
esp. the head of a small community. 

It is the title of a Spanish governor of 
a province. 

Adjutators : nominees of the Army ap- 
pointed to represent their grievances 
before Parliament in 1647. 

Admirable, The : Abraham Aben-Ezra 
(1093-1167), Spanish- Jewish scholar 
and biblical commentator. 

Admirable Crichton : see Crichton. 

Admirable Doctor, The : Roger Bacon 
(c. 1214-94), English scholar and 
scientist. 

Admiral of the Bine, An : (i) formerly an 
admiral hoisting a flag on a blue 
ground and commanding the rear; 

(2) a tapster, from the colour of his 
apron; (3) a butcher, for the same 
reason. 

Admiral of the Red, An : (i) formerly an 
admiral hoisting a flag on a red ground 
and commanding in the centre ; (2) a 
tippler, from the colour of his face or 
nose. 

Admiral of the Red, White and Blue, An : 
a beadle ; hall-porter ; etc. From 
their gorgeous uniforms. 

Admiral of file White, An : (i) formerly 
an. admiral hoisting a flag on a white 
ground, who commanded in the van ; 

(2) a coward; (3) a fainting person. 

Admiral, To tap the : to drink secretly. 
Originally a nautical phrase. 

Admiral’s Regiment, The : the Royal 
Marines. 

Admonitioners, Admonitionists : the 
Puritans who made representations to 
Parliament in 1571 against ceremonies 
in the Church of England. From the 
* admonition ' which they presented. 

Ado, To keep : to be always astir. 
[Earle, Microcosmographie : A Medley 
Man (1628)] 

Ado, To make an : to make a fuss. 
[Thos. Preston, King Cambyses, I, 832 
(c. 1561)] 

Adonai (Heb,) : (i) a name of God ; (2) 
My lords ; (3) the god of light among 
the Rosicrucians. 

Adonis, An : an extremely handsome 
youth or man ; a dandy. After 
Adonis, the beloved of Venus, famous 
for his beauty. 

Adonis garden. An : an ephemeral toy 
or pleasure. From the Adonis gardens 
or lettuce jars of the ancient Greeks in 
which herbs were grown for the annual 
festival of Adonis, and then discarded. 


[iEgrotat 

Adonis of fifty : George IV of England. 
So-called by Leigh Hunt, who suflered 
imprisonment on account of the epi- 
gram which contained the phrase* 

Adoptive Emperors, The : Nerva, Trajan, 
Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus 
Aurelius, Roman emperors who were 
adopted and nominated by their im- 
mediate predecessors. 

Adriatic, Marriage of the : the ceremony 
formerly performed annually by the 
Doge of Venice of throwing a conse- 
crated ring into the water. Instituted 
c. 1177 to commemorate the victory 
over Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. 

Adullam, Cave of : see Adullamites. 

AduUamites : scceders from the Liberal 
Party in 1866 on the subject of Parlia- 
mentary Reform. The secession was 
termed the Cave of Adullam by John 
Bright (see I Sam., xxii). Hence any 
body of political seceders. 

Adventurer ; Merchant Adventurer : one 
engaged in a trading expedition in the 
1 6th or 17th cent., or a member of a 
society engaged in such an enterprise. 
In the Elizabethan period a volunteer 
who participated in a naval enterprise 
was sometimes called an * Adventurer.' 

Adventurer upon return. An : a traveller 
who gambled on his return from^'jTa 
voyage. He lent money on his de- 
parture and was repaid with heavy 
interest in the event of his return. 

Adventurers of 1642, The : those who 
advanced money to the Government in 
1641 and were repaid by grants of land 
in Ireland 12 years later. 

Adversary, The ; Satan. [I Peter, v, 8] 

Advocatus Diaboli (Lat., the devil's advo- 
cate) : an adverse critic. Properly, 
the official appointed by the Pope to 
argue against the proposed canoniza- 
tion of a saint. 

iSEgean civilization ; prehistoric civiliza- 
tion centering in Crete and spreading 
around the shores of the Eastern 
Mediterranean, or .^gean. Sea. 

iEger, An [Lot,, ill) : (i) a certificate of 
illness held by a student at a university 
or school ; (2) the excuse for absence 
on account of illness. 

iEgis of . . Under the : under the protec- 
tion of . . The aegis was the shield 
given by Jupiter to Athena. It was 
the former's protection in his war with 
the Titans. 

AS^otat, An (Lot., he is ill) : an excuse 
from examinsCtion at a universitv on 
account of illness. 



A.EJ-O.U.] 

A.E.I.O.U. : Austfide Est Imperare Orbi 
Universo ; Austria Erit In Orbe 
Ultima ; Alles Erdreich 1 st Oesterreich 
Unterthan ; Austria’s Empire Is Over 
all Universal. Adopted by the Em- 
peror Frederick III, Archduke ol 
Austria (1415-93). 

iElia Laelia : an insoluble riddle. From 
the title of a Latin inscription dis- 
covered at Bologna. 
iEmonian arts. The : magic. After 
.^monia in Thessaly, famous for its 
magic. 

iEolian : (i) borne by the wind, after 
^olus, the god of the winds ; (2) lyric, 
after ^olis, the N.W. Coast of Asia 
Minor, where the early lyric poetry of 
the Greeks flourished. 
iEoHan harp, An : a musical instrument 
played by the wind. After .®olus, the 
god of the winds. 

iEolus, A cave (temple) of : a very windy 
place. After ^olus (Greek mythology), 
the keeper of the winds. 
iEolus, The breath of : scandal, 
aischylus of France, The : Prosper 
Jolyot de Cr^billon (1674-1762), French 
dramatist and poet. After iEschylus 
(525-456 B.C.), the founder of the 
Greek drama. 

JEsculapius, An : a physician. After 
iEsculapius, the Greek god of medicine. 
' jEsculapian,’ medicinal. 
iEson’s hath ; a hair-dye [according to 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici (1643)] 
The reference is to the rejuvenation of 
^son by Medea. 

aisop of Arabia, The : Lokman (fl. 5th 
cent.). After Mso^ (c. 620-560 B.C.), 
the famous Greek fabulist. 
iEsop of England, The : John 
Gay (1688-1732), author of Fables 
(1726). 

iEsop of France, The : Jean de la Fon- 
taine (1621-95), author of Fables 
(1668-95). 

iEsop of Germany, The : Gotthold 
Ephraim Lessing (1729-81). 
iEsop of India, The : Pilpay or Bidpai, 
author of Fables (c. 300 B.C.). 

Affaire de coenr. An (Ff., affair of the 
heart) : a love-aflair. 

Affaire d’honneur. An (Fr., affair of 
honour) : a duel. 

Affliction, Bread of : a living earned in 
painful or unpleasant circumstances, 
{Deuteronomy, xvi, 3] 

Afrancesados : Napoleon’s supporters in 
Spain and Spanish America. 

African dust : gold. 


[Agathocles 

African Slave, The : Terence (B.C. 194- 
159), Latin comedian, who wa^ brought 
to Rome from Carthage as a slave. 

Africander, An : a white South- African, 
generally of Dutch extraction. 

Africander Bund, The : a political associ- 
ation formed in 1882 to secure the 
independence of South Africa. 

After us the Deluge : see Deluge. 

After-cast : (i) a second throw at dice ; 
(2) an5rthing done too late. 

After-clap, Am : a sudden attack oc- 
curring after the contest is supposed to 
have concluded ; an unexpected de- 
mand suddenly put forward. [Occleve, 
De Regimine Principum, 855 (1411-2)] 

After-dinner mood. An : a comfortable 
and good-tempered condition. 

After-meal, An : an entertainment 
following a banquet. 

Afternoon of one’s days. The : the second 
half of a life of normal length, 
[Shakespeare, Richard III, III, vii, 

(1594)] 

Afternoon’s man. An : a tippler. [Sir T. 
Overbury, Characters, A Water-man, 
(1616)] 

Aga Khan, An : (i) a descendant of Ali, 
the husband of Fatima, Mahomet’s 
daughter ; (2) an Indian prince of this 
descent possessing spiritual authority. 

Agamemnon, An : a great military ruler. 
After the legendary king of Mycenae, 
who led the Greek expedition against 
Troy and who, on his rettim home, 
was murdered either by his wife or by 
her paramour. 

Aganice, As the moon obeys : from an 
ancient Greek proverb, used in allusion 
to boasters ; more remotely from the 
legend of Aganice of Thessaly, who, 
learning to calculate eclipses, pre- 
tended, until her secret was dis- 
covered, that she could control the 
moon. 

Agape (Gr^., love) : a love-feast in the 
ritual of the Early Christians. 

Agapemone : (i) an institution of the 
religious sect of Agapemonites ; (2) an 
’ abode of (sexual) love.’ 

Agate, An : an undersized person. From 
the small figures cut in agate, which 
stone was named after Achates, the 
Greek name of a Sicilian river in whose 
bed agates were found in profusion. 

Agathodes’ pot : a poor relation. From 
Agathocles (B.C, 361-289), Tyrant of 
Syracuse, who was the son of a potter, 
himself at first followed that trade, and 
in his period of greatness always kept 



8 


Agej 

an ezirthen pot near him to remind 
him of his origin. 

Age, Of a certain : generally of a woman, 
no longer young. [R. Cumberland, 
The Mystenous Husband, I, i {1783)] 

Age of &e BiOiops, The: The nmth 
century (according to Hallam). 

Age of the Popes, The; the twelfth 
century (according to Hallam). 

Age, The Wire: the present. On 
account of the universal use of the 
telegraph. . 

Ages, The Five : (i) according to Hesiod : 
the Golden or Patriarchal ; the Silver 
or Voluptuous ; the Brazen or War- 
like ; the Heroic or Renaissant ; the 
Iron or Present; (2) according to 
Fichte : the Antediluvian ; the Post- 
diluvian ; the Christian ; the Satanic ; 
the Millenian. 

Ages, The Three : (i) according to Varro : 
the Beginning of Mankind to the 
Deluge; the Deluge to the First 
Olympiad (the mythical) ; the First 
Olympiad to the Present Time (the 
Historic) ; (2) according to Lucretius : 

the Age of Stone (when implements of 
stone were used) ; the Age of Bronze 
(when implements of copper or brass 
were used) ; the Age of Iron (the 
present, when implements of iron are 
used). 

Ages of Man, The Seven : see Seven Ages. 

Ages of Man, The Three : (i) At 20 years 
of age the will ripens ; at 30 the wit ; 
at 40 the judgment." [Benj. Franklin, 
Poor Richard* s A Imanac for 1741, June] 
(2) an infant in a cradle, a shepherd 
playing a flute, an old man medi- 
tating on two skulls; as symbolized 
by Titian. 

Ages of a State, The Three : see State, 
The Three Ages of a. 

Agent Provocateur, An {Fr,) : a secret 
agent employed by governments to 
encourage suspected revolutionists or 
other political ojffenders so far to 
commit themselves as to justify .their 
arrest. 

Agitator, An : one who stirs up feelings 
of discontent. Originally one of the 
delegates of the private soldiers in the 
English Parhamenta^ Army (1647). 

Agnes, An : a simple girl who innocently 
makes remarks into which an improper 
interpretation can be read. After a 
character in Moli^re, VEcole des 
Femmes (1662). 

Agnus Bell, An : the bell rung while the 
Agnus Dei is being recited or chanted. 


[Air 

Agnus Dei {Lat., the Lamb of God) : 
(i) the symbol of Christ : in the Catho- 
lic Church a cake of candle-wax im- 
pressed with the ssmabol of a lamb and 
blessed by the Pope; (2) a prayer 
commencing with the words Agnus Dei, 
O Lamb of God. 

Agog, To set (Fr., d gogo, in clover) : to 
excite to eager expectation, like a 
horse in clover. 

Agony Column, An : the advertisement 
column of a newspaper which contains 
inquiries for missing friends, com- 
munications between lovers, etc. In 
allusion to the obvious distress of some 
of the advertisers. 

Agony, To pile on (up) the : to exaggerate 
esp. in sensational narratives. [Mrs. 
Gaskell, Life of Charlotte Bronte, ch. 
XXV (1857)] 

Agrarian League, The : a German league 
formed in 1893 to secure the adoption 
of bimetallism and protection. 

Agraviados (Span., men with a griev- 
ance) : Spanish insurgents of 1826-8. 

Agree to differ. To : to refrain from dis- 
pute although not in agreement. 
[Sidney, Arc^ia, Bk. I (i 59 o)l 

Agur’s wish : ‘ Give me neither riches 
nor poverty.’ [Proverbs xxx, 8] 

Ahitopnel : see Achitophel. 

Aholibah : the personiflcation of prosti- 
tution. [Ezekiel, xxiii] 

Ahriman : the principle of evil, according 
to the old Persian mythology. 

Aid, An : a feudal tax levied in England 
on vassals ; also sometimes a volun- 
tary grant. 

Aide de Camp, An (Fr., camp-assistant) : 
an oiflcer in attendance on a gener^. 
[Cotton, Espernon, III, xi (1670)] 

Aim-orier, An : an abettor. A metaphor 
drawn from archery. 

Aim at. To take an : to estimate. 
[Francis Bacon, Essays : Of Super^ 
stition (1625)] • 

Aim, To cry : to consent ; approve of ; 
applaud. Originally derived from 
archery where it was used to encourage 
a competitor to accept a challenge. 
[Rob. Gamier, Comeha (Thos. Kyd's 
Translation), IV, i, 172 (1594)] 

Aim, To give : to stand aloof ; to guide 
one who aims, by informing him of the 
result of his previous shot. Originally 
an archery term. [Dekker and 
Webster, Westward Ho, II, ii (1607)] 

Air one^s opinions. To : to state one’s 
views publicly; to propound one’s 
opinion. 



Air] 

Air, To live on : to have no visible 
means of existence. 

Air, To plough the : see Plough. 

Air, To take : to be spread abroad. 
[Bunyan, The Holy War (1682)] 

Air, To take the : to enjoy a walk or 
promenade. 

Air, To vanish into thin : to disappear. 
[Homer, Odyssey, Bk. VIII, 409 ; 
Shakespeare, The Tempest, IV, i, ii. 
148-56 (? i 6 o 9)] 

Air, To walk on : to be light-hearted. 

Air weeps. The : it rains. [Nich. 
Grimald, Epitaph on the Death of Sir 
James Willford (1557)] 

Airs, To give oneself : to make preten- 
sions to superiority. 

Airy nothings : matters of no conse- 
quence. Attributed to Dr. Johnson 
by Mrs. Piozzi. 

Ajax, An : (i) a hero, distinguished by 
stature, strength, and physical beauty. 
After the Greek hero in the Trojan 
War ; (2) a water-closet ; properly, a 
jakes. 

Alabama Claim, The : a privateer, fitted 
out in England, which preyed on the 
commerce of the Northern States 
during the American Civil War, in 
consequence of which more than 
;i3, 000,000 compensation had to be 
paid by England. 

Aladdin’s cave of wealth, An : vast 
stores of wealth. From the tale of 
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp in 
The Arabian Nights. 

Aladdin’s Lamp : a talisman that brings 
good fortune and success. From the 
tale of Aladdin and the Wonderful 
Lamp in The Arabian Nights. 

Aladdin’s Window, To finish ; to attempt 
to complete a task beyond one's 
powers. From the tale of Aladdin in 
The Arabian Nights. 

Alamode : see ^ la mode. 

Al^c Oottin (Cotin) : a nickname given 
to Frederick the Great of Prussia by 
Voltaire. After Alaric, the Visigothic 
King, a famous warrior (c. 376-410), 
and Charles Cotin, a mediocre French 
poet (1604-82). 

Alarm, A false : an unnecessary warning 
of approaching danger. From alV 
arme, to arms. [Langland, Piers 
Plowman, XX, 91 (14th cent.)] 

Alasoons : l^otestant refugees in England 
in the i6th cent. After Jan a Lasci, a 
Polish refugee in England (1499-1560). 

Alasnam’s Mirror ; the test of virtue ; a 
mirror given by one of the genii to 


[Alderman 

Prince Ze3m Alasnam, whereby he could 
tell immediately whether a maiden 
would remain faithful to him or not. 
[The Arabian Nights'] 

Albany ; Albion ; a poetical name for 
Scotland. Properly, Northern Scot- 
land. 

Albany Regency, The : an American 
political Party, with headquarters at 
Albany, New York State. It acquired 
considerable influence (c. 1820-54). 

Albertine, An : a very careful domestic 
manageress. After a character in 
Alexandre Dumas (fils), Le Phre 
Prodigue (1859). 

Albigenses, The : Pre-Reformation 

heretics ; esp. Reformers in the South 
of France in the 12th and 13th 
centuries who were severely persecuted 
by Innocent III and Simon de Mont- 
fort, and who were the progenitors of 
the Reformation in England and on 
the Continent. From Albi, a town in 
Languedoc, one of their centres. 

Albin : Albion {q.v.) \ Albany ig^v.) 

Albino-poets : minor poets, noteworthy 
for sweetness rather than for strength. 
A term invented by Oliver Wendell 
Holmes in The Autocrat of the Breakfast 
Table (1857-8) in reference to Kirke 
White, on whose name the term is a 
play. 

Albion : the ancient and poetical name 
of Britain. From a Celtic word, 
meaning White Land, in allusion to 
the chalk clifls on the southern coast. 

Alcantara, Knights of : a Spanish order 
of knighthood, established in 1177 for 
service against the Mohammedans. 

Alcinous, to : a protector and host. After 
the king of the Phaeaciams, with whom 
Odysseus, J ason and Medea took refuge. 

Alcinous, A feast of : an extravagant 
entertainment. 

Alcinous, Apples to : see Apples. 

Alcmena’s night, to : a night apparently 
as long as three ordinary ones. 

Alcyon : see Halcyon. 

Alderman, to : (i) a crowbar as a 

burglar's tool, on account of its im- 
portant position in the outfit ; (2) 
two-shillings-and-sixpence ; because 
just as an alderman is half a king in 
his ward, a two-and-sixpenny coin is 
half-a-crown ; (3) a turkey ; from its 
usual appearance at municipal 
banquets, and also from the red and 
purples of its head and neck. 

Alderman in chains, to : a turkey with 
sausages hung around it. On account 



Alderman] 


[AU 


of its resemblance to a portly City 
alderman wearing the chain of ofiS.ce. 

Alderman’s pace : a slow, stately pace. 

Aldgate Pump, A draught on: a dis- 
honoured cheque. A play on draught 
(draft). 

Al^e Editions : books printed by Aldus 
Manutius of Venice (1450-1515), who 
invented the italic (formerly Aldine) 
type. Esp. editions of the classics 
printed by the Aldine press. 

Ale, March : se& March Ale. 

Ale mends in summer, To mend as sour : 
not at all. [Heywood, Provsrbes 

(1546)] ^ ^ . 

Ales : rustic festivals. On account of 
the ale consumed on such occasions. 


Ale-hush, An : a tavern-sign. [Henry 
Porter, Two Angry Women of Abington 

(1599)] 

Ale-clout, To wash one’s face in an : to 

get drunk. [Heywood, Proverbes 

(1546)] 

Ale-conner, An : a mediaeval English 
ofificial appointed to prevent depreci- 
ation in the quality of ale sold. 
Ale-dagger, An : a dagger worn for use 


in taverns. 

Ale-draper, An ; a tavern-keeper. By 
analogy with linen-draper. [Chettle, 
Kinde-Hart's Dreame (1593)] 

Ale-Knight, An : a tippler. [Eccl. Proc. 
Chester (i575)] 

Ale-silver ; a tax formerly paid to the 
Lord Mayor of London by those who 
sold ale within the City. 

Ale-stake : (i) the sign before an inn, or 
its support ; [Chaucer, Canterbury 
Tales, Prologue 667 (1386)] (2) a 

tippler (i6th cent.). 

Ale-wife, An : (i) a kind of herring ; 
(2) the wife of an innkeeper. 

Alexander Newski, Order of : a Russian 
Order of Knighthood, founded by 
Peter the Great. 

Alexander of the North : Charles XII 
of Sweden. In allusion to Alexander 
the Great, King of Macedon (356-323 
B.C.). 

Alexander, The Albanian : Iskander Beg 
or Scanderbeg (George Castriot) (1403- 
67), Prince of Albania. 

Alexander the Corrector : Alexander 
Cruden (1701-70), author of the Con- 
cordance to the Bible, who petitioned 
Parliament to appoint him ' Corrector 
of the People.’ 

Alexander, The English: Henry V. 
After Alexander the Great, Conqueror 
of the World. 


Alexander, The Persian : Sandjar 
(1117-58). 

Alexanders at five sous a day : soldiers, 
so-called by Voltaire. 

Alexander’s beard : no beard. 

Alexandra limp. The ; an artificial limp 
fashionable in English society (1872 
ei seq.) when Queen Alexandra was 
suffering from an injury to the knee. 

Alexandrian : (in mediaeval times) 

Eastern, because all oriental produce 
was imported from Alexandria. 

Alexandrine (Verse) : The French heroic 
verse ; in English a kind of verse. 
After the French poet Alexandre Paris 
or from a poem on the subject of 
Alexander the Great. 

Alexandrine Age, The : A.D. 323-640 
when Alexandria was at the culmina- 
tion of its career. 

Alfred’s Scholars : Werfrith, Bp. of 
Worcester ; Ethelstan and Werwulf, 
Mercian priests ; Plegmund of Mercia, 
Abp. of Canterbury ; Asser, a Welsh- 
man ; Grimbald, a Frenchman. 

Algerism : administrative incapacity. 
After Russell Alger, American Secre- 
tary for War (1897-99) , who was driven 
from ofl5ce on account of his inefificient 
management of the Spanish- American 
War. 

Alibi clock. An {Lat., elsewhere) : a 
clock that strikes one hour and shows 
another. 

Aliboron, An : a fool ; an ass. The 
name of a jackass in one of La Fon- 
taine’s Fables, 

Alive and kicking : very much alive. In 
allusion to the child in the mother’s 
womb after quickening. [Peter 
Pindar, Hair Powder (1795)] 

All and some : everyone. [The Pardoner 
and the Friar (1533)] 

All and sundry : all without exception. 

All Fools’ Day : the ist of April : see 
April Fool. 

All fours. To go on : to crawl on hands 
and knees. 

All fours with . . On : quite conforming 
with . . ; entirely agreeing and har- 
monious with . . ; ’ squaring ’ with . . 
Of Masonic origin, denoting the com- 
pleteness and harmony of the four 
sides of a square. 

All Halloween summer. An : a late 
summer. After the Festival of All 
Hallows (AU Saints) on the ist of 
November. 

All my eye (and Betty Martm) : all non- 
sense. Supposed to be a corruption of 



AH] 

ah mihi, heate M avtine^ ' Woe to me, 
Blessed Martin,^ the invocation of 
Italian beggars to their saint. It is 
said that an English sailor wandered 
into an Italian Church, and, when 
asked by his companions what was 
transpiring therein, replied : ‘ All my 

eye and Betty Martin/ In all prob- 
ability the phrase has some kinship 
with ‘ to have in one*s eye,’ to have in 
mind, the suggestion being that not 
only is it in the mind, but it will 
remain there and never materialize. 

All one : of no difference. [Lilly, 
Campaspe III, ii (1584)] 

All, One’s (little) : all one’s property. 
[Peter Pindar, Mr. Pitt's Flight to 
Wimbledon (1795)] 

All Red Cable: the cable-route, com- 
pleted in 1902, from England to 
Australia, not touching foreign soil. 

All Saints’ Day : November ist. 

All serene : all right. Span., serena, a 
pass-word used in Cuba. 

All Soul’s Day: November end. A 
Catholic festival in memory of the 
dead. 

All talk and no cider : much cry and 
little wool ; a great deal of fuss but 
very little result. An Americanism. 
Said to have arisen out of a cider party 
met in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 
which quickly developed into a political 
meeting, to the resentment of many of 
the guests who considered that they 
had been brought to the gathering on 
false pretences. 

All the go : popular at the moment. 
Originally a draper’s term, that which 
is going (by sale! and will soon be sold 
out. 

All the Hacks : the British ministry 
which succeeded that of * All the 
Talents ’ in 1807. 

All the Talents : Lord Grenville’s Coali- 
tion Ministry of 1 806-7, which included 
representatives of both political parties. 

All there : quick-witted and in full 
possession of his senses. 

All things to all men : of one who en- 
deavours by agreeing with everybody 
to displease nobody. [I CorinthianSy 
ix, 22 ; Edgeworth, Belinda, ch. i 
(1801)] 

All the world and his wife : the whole of 
society. [Swift, (Simon Wagstaff), 
Polite Conversation , Dial. Ill (1738)] 

All, To throw (push) at : to risk every- 
thing. [Dekker, Whore of Babylon 
(1607'!] 


[Alruna 

All waters. To be for : to be able to turn 
to any occupation, like a fish that can 
live in either fresh or salt water. 
[Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, IV, ii 
(1601)] 

All-fathering river. The : the Nile, so- 
called by G. W. Steevens, 

Alley, To he good only in one’s own ; 
metaphor drawn from the bowling- 
alley. [Bacon, Essays : Of Cunning 
{1625)] 

Alliance Society, The : a Belgian political 
Society formed in 1897 to secure the 
union of the different branches of the 
Liberal Party. 

Allodial lands : lands held absolutely 
among the Franks, subject to no 
burdens and passing on death to 
next of kin. 

Alma Mater (Lazi., benign Mother) : the 
university or college at which one has 
been educated. [Trapp, Commentary 
on Old Test., Ill (1657)] 

Almanac, As uncertain as an : metaphor 
derived from Marston, Jacke Drum’s 
Eniertainement (1601). 

Almighty dollar, The : money regarded 
as a god. Term coined by Washington 
Irving in The Creole Village (1837). 
See also Ben Jonson, Epistle to 
Countess of Ruila 7 id, ‘ almighty gold.’ 

Almond for a parrot. An : a trifle to 
amuse a silly person. [Ray, Proverbs 
(1670)] 

Almond tree, The : the grey hair of old 
age, [Ecclesiastes, xii] 

Alms basket : charity. 

Alms penny. An : a lucky penny. 
[Peele, Old Wives* Tale (1595)] 

Alnaschar dream, An : a day-dream. 
From the story of Alnaschar in The 
Arabian Nights. He invests all his 
possessions in glass-ware, begins to 
imagine his success step by step until 
he becomes a millionaire, when with a 
careless kick he upsets his merchandise 
and thereby destroys the whole basis 
of his dreams. 

Alnaschar of Modern Literature, The : 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), 
who said that he derived his Kubla 
Khan from a dream. 

Alpha and omega (Grk.) : the first and 
the last ; the beginning and the end. 
They are the first and the last letters 
of the Greek alphabet. [Revelations, 

Alruna-wife, An : a household god, after 
the Alrunes or household gods of the 
ancient Germans. 



Alsatia] 


Alsatia : a sanctuary ; a resort for bad 
characters. From Alsace, for many 
centuries a debatable province between 
Germany and France. In i6th cent, 
the region between the River 
Thames and Fleet Street in London 
was termed Alsatia, and was a sanc- 


tuary for rogues. 

Alsatism, An : a street bully, from 
Alsatia (?.«.). 

Alter ego. An {Lca„ other I): ones 
other self. [Mobbe*s transl. of Ale- 
man, Guzman de Alfarache (1623); 
Suppression of Monasteries, p. 156 

{Germ., old Fritz) : Frederick 
the Great of Pinssia (1712-86). 

Althsea’s brand : a fatal event. From 
the legend of Althaea's son Meleager, 
who was to live so long as a log then 
on the fire remained unconsumed. 
[Ovid, Metam., VIII, 4] 

Altrincham (Cheshire) : a proverbially 
small and poor corporation. 

Alnmbrados ; a Spanish mystical sect, 
the forerunners of the Illuminati (q.v.) 
which flourished in the first quarter of 
the 1 6th cent. 

Alnmnns, An {Lot., foster-child) : a 
pupil of an educational establislment : 
see Alma. Mater. [Evelyn, Diary, I 
(1644)] 

Alvina weeps i the wind blows loudly. 
From a Flemish legend of Alvina, a 
princess cursed by her parents, who 
took to the air where she continued to 
wander and weep. 

Amftimnn ; Amaymon ; Amoymon : (in 
mediseval demonology) one of tiie 
four kings of hell. 

ALmalekites, To smite the : to root out . . 
utterly destroy . . [Exodus, xvii, 
8-16 ; I Sam., xxx ; I Chron., iv, 


dtan Code, The : the earliest-known 
code of maritime law (nth cent.). 
Aftef Amalfi, in Italy. 

Axnalthea^s horn : the hom of plenty. 
After the hom of the goat Amalthea, 
the foster-mother of Jupiter. • 
Amaianthine flower of faith : everlasting 
flower of faith. The amaranth was 
reputed to be unfading. [Words- 
worth, Weak is the Will of Man'\ 
Amaryllis, An : a country girl. After a 
country girl in Theocritus, Idyls, Ovid, 
and Virgfl, Eclogues, 

Amati, An : a violin of excellent quality. 
After the maker, Andrea Amati, of 
Cremona ffl. 1550). 


12 [Aminadab 

Amazon, An : a female warrior ; a 
physically powerful woman ; a virago. 
According to Herodotus the Amazons, 
a race of female warriors, inhabited 
Sc5rthia. 

Amazone : A riding habit. 

Amazonian ch in . An : a beardless chin. 

Amber, A fly in the : see Fly. 

Ambesas, Ambes-ace, Ames-ace [Lat., 
ambo asses : two aces, i.e., the lowest 
cast of the dice) ; bad luck. 

Ambree, A Mary : a woman of stren^h 
and spirit. After an English heroine 
at the siege of Gaunt (1584^ the subject 
of a ballad. [Ben Jonson, 2 ' ale of a 
Tub, I. 4 (1633;] , . , , 

Ambrosia : food or drink of a most 
delicious character. In Greek myth- 
ology, the food of the gods. 

Amen to. To wy: to approve of. 
[Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress (1678)] 

Amende honorable. An (Fr.) : a public 
and generous admission of wrong 
done ; honourable compensation. 
Formerly (in France), a disgraceful 
form of punishment for traitors, parri- 
cides and sacriligious persons. 

Amends, To nudce : to apologize and 
compensate for a slight offence, 
probably unintentional. [Poston 
Letters, No. 408 (1461)] 

American Party, The : A United States 
political party which flourished in the 
middle of the 19th cent. It advocated 
differentiation against Americans of 
foreign birth. It was also known as 
the Know Nothing Party, because, 
being at first a secret organisation, its 
members refused to furnish any 
information concerning it or its 
objects. 

A iTiftrinuTi Volunteers, The : An American 
Salvation Army, formed as a secession 
from the Salvation Army by Mr. and 
Mrs. Ballington Booth in 1896. 

Ames-ace : see Ambesas. 

Ami des Hommes, L’ [Fr., friend of man) ; 
Victor Riquetti, Marquis de Mira- 
beau (1715-89), French politician, 
father of the ^eat Mirabeau. After 
his book VAmi des Hommes (1756)* 

Ami du Feuple, L’ (Fr., friend of the 
people) : Jean Paul Marat (1743-93), 
French Revolutionary leader. After 
the title of the paper which he edited. 

Amicus curiae {Lat., friend of the Court): 
one in court, not a party to the suit, 
who assists or corrects the judge. 

Aminadab, An : a Quaker. A term used 
I by the earlier English dramatists. 



Ammoxiian] 13 

Ammouian horn, The : the cornucopia or 
horn of plenty. Orig., a tract of very 
fertile land, in the shape of a ram’s 
horn, given by Ammon, king of Libya, 
to Amalthea, the mother of Bacchus. 

Amnesty oath, The : the oath required 
of those to whom an amnesty was 
granted after the conclusion of the 
Aonerican Civil War. 

Amok (amuck), To run : to attack 
frenziedly and indiscriminately all 
within reach. From amuco, the Malay 
name for those who act in this 
manner. 

Amort, All (Fr., h la mort, to the death): 
lifeless ; in a state of death. 

Amour propre {Fr., self-love) : self- 
esteem ; self-respect. 

Ampersand : the sign * Literally, 

‘ and per se — and,’ and by itself, and. 

Amphidromical feast. An : a sacramental 
feast. After the Amphidromia, a 
family festival in ancient Athens at 
which a newly-bom infant was conse- 
crated. 

Amphigouri : nonsense verses. 

Amphisbaena : a mythical Libaean 

serpent with a head at both ends. 

Amphitryon, An : a host who gives good 
dinners. After ^ play of that name 
by Moli^re, This was based on a play 
by Plautus, who on his part used a 
Greek legend for his basis. 

Ampoule, La Sainte (Fr.) : the vase that 
contained the oil with which the kings 
of France used to be anointed at their 
coronations. Destroyed in the jBbrst 
French Revolution. 

Amsterdam religion : extreme Puritan- 
ism or Nonconformity, after the 
Puritans who fled from England to 
Amsterdam and other cities of Holland 
at the beginning of the 17th cent. 

Amuck : see Amok. 

Amurath succeeds an Amurath, An : one 
tyrant or oppressor follows another. 

In allusion to Amurath III, Turkish 
sultan, who reigned from 1574-95, and 
whose first act after his accession was 
to invite all his brothers to a banquet 
and strangle them. [Shakespeare, 

2 Henry IV, V, ii (1598)] 

Amyclsean Brothers, The: Castor and 
Pollux. They were bom at Amyclae. 

Amycleean silence: the inhabitants of 
Amyclae, in consequence of repeated 
false reports, were forbidden to an- 
nounce the approach of the Spartan 
enemy, who in consequence ultimately 
took the city by surprise. 


[Anathema 

Amysis plays the fool : said of someone 
assuming stupidity or some other false 
attribute. Amysis, sent to Delphi to 
consult the oracle, learnt that his city 
was about to be destroyed, and, to 
escape its fate, fled to Peloponnesus. 

Anabaptists : (i) an exti'eme religious 
and revolutionary communistic sect, 
which seized the City of Munster in 
1535* was afterwards suppressed; 
(2) a sect of Baptist dissenters, who 
advocated a second baptism. 

Anacharsis among the Scythians : a 
wise man among fools. The Scythians 
were proverbially foolish. Anacharsis, 
one of them, was an exception. 

Anack, Sons of : see Anakim. 

Anacreon, An : a poet singing of love 
and wine, after the Greek l 37 ric poet 
(c. 563-478 B.C.). 

Anacreon Moore : Thomas Moore (1779- 
1852), Irish poet, the translator of 
Anacreon, who also wrote poems in 
the same style. 

Anacreon of painters, The : Francesco 
Albano (1578-1660), Italian painter 
of lovely women. 

Anacreon of Persia, The : Mohammed 
Hafiz (d. 1389). 

Anacreon of the French, The : (i) Pontus. 
de Tyard (152 1-1605) ; (2) P. Laujon 
(1727-1811). 

Anacreon of the Guillotine, The : 

Bertrand Bar^re de Vieuzac (1755- 
1841), President of the National Con- 
vention ; from his addresses to his 
victims condemned to the guillo- 
tine. 

Anacreon of the Temple, The : GuiUaume 
Amfrye (1639-1720). 

Anacreon of the Twelfth Century, The : 
Walter Mapes (1150-1208). 

Anacreon, The Scottish : Alexander 
Scot (c. 1530-70). 

Anacreon, The Sicilian : Giovanni Meli 
(1740-1815). 

Anagram of a man, An : a person 
physically deformed. \The Spectator, 
No. 60 (1711)] 

Anakim ; Sons of An^ : giants. 
[Joshua, XV, etc.] 

Ananias, An : a liar. [Acts, v] 

Anathema Maran-atha : an intensified 
form of anathema, a curse, something 
accursed. In Hebrew antiquity an- 
athema was an ollering dedicated 
to Jehovah, esp. one set apart for 
destruction ; in classical antiquity a 
thank-offering. [I Corinthians, xvi, 
22] 



Asaiomsr] 


14 




Anatomy* An : a thin, half-starved 
person, old or young; a skeleton, 
fehakespeare. Comedy of Errors, V, i 

(1591)1 

Anoestof, To he one’s own: to have 
piiormed services (usually militaxy) 
o£ such outstandii^ value to one's 
country that one's status demands no 
pedigree. [Voltaire, Nirope, I, 3 

(1743) • * 

pas besoin d'sdeux/ He needs no 
ancestors who serves his country well.] 
Anehor of salvation. The : hope. [Nich. 
Breton, The Good and the Bad: A 
Holy Man (1616)] 

Anehor, To have oast : to have made up 
one's mind, :^ed one's course. [Dekker 
and Webster, Sir Thomas Wyat, sc. 6 
( 1^)1 

Anohor, To side at : to be in a position 
of security. [Congreve, Old Bachelor, 
V, I (1693)] 

Anchor, To weigh : to start on one's 


course. 

Anchors, It is safe riding at two : it is 
safe to ' have two strings to one's bow.' 

Anden Bdginie; Andent BdgimOb The 
(Fr.) : the social and political syat^ 
in France previous to the Revolution 
that commenced in 1789. 

Andame STohlasse, The (Fr., ancient 
nobility) : the nobility of the ancient 
Regime. 

Andenti An : a banner ; banner-bearer. 
A corrugtion of ' ensign.' [Wright, 
Certain Errors in Navigation (i599)] 

Andent history. That’s mere : said when 
disparaging another's forecast as some- 
th!^ stale or known to everybody. 
The Romans had a saying, ' de Remo 
et Romulo piaedicaii,' to prOThesy 
about Remus and Romulus (Qcero, 
Be LeMus, I, 3, 8) 

Ancieut lights : light through a window 
which has been enjoyed at least 
twenty years. The enjoyment of 
it then becomes a legal right. 

Ancient Mariners : gi^uatas who row 
in college races, Cambridge University. 

Andent m Days, The : a biblical term 
for God. 

Andent Pistol, An : 500 Andent (An). 
After Pistol, Falstaff's ' andent ' or 
ensiga in Shakespeare's plays. 

Andent than chaos, To ap w of things 
more : see ^eak. 

Andent Way, The : ' and ask for the 
paths, where there is the good way, 
and walk therein, and ye shall find rest 
for your souls.’ {Jeremiah, vi, 16). 


[Bacon, Essays i Of Innovations (31x1 
edn. 1625) ; Advancement of Learning, 
I, 5, a (1605)] 

Andcints, The Conndl of: the Upper 
House of the French Directory 
(1794-99)* 

. . and his wife : added for emphasis and 
exaggeration. Cf. All the world and 
his wife [q.v.) : Coach and horse and 
his wife (q.v.) ; also Devil and his 
dam (7.V.). 

Andalosiaa eye (etc.). An ; a dark eye. 
[Barham, Ingoldshy Legends: Mrs 
Botherhy's Story (1840)]. An ' Anda- 
lusian dame' [Ainsworth, Rookwood, 
HI. 18 (1834)] 

Andiea Fd(i)ara, An : a sword of fine 
quality. After Andrea of Ferrara, a 
fem nng T tfllia.il swoTdsmith of the T6th 
cent, pcott, Wauerley, (1814) ; For- 
tunes of N^^, ch, 3 (1822)] 

Andrew, An : (1) a merchant-vessel. 

After Andrea Doria (r466-i56o), 
Genoese admiral. [Shakespeare, 
Merchant of Venice, 1 , i, 27 (?I596)]. 
(2) a man-servant, 

Andrew, A merry : a bnfioon. After 
Andrew Borde or Boorde (c. 1490- 
1549), a learned Englidi physician 
possessed of great wit, who used to 
address the people in the market-place. 

Andromad^ An : a heroic and devoted 
wife. After the wife of Hector. [The 
Spectator, No. 57 (1711)] 

Anecdote, An : a short account of an 
incideut. Origixially a secret history, 
a nanrative of unpublished events ; 
so used by Procopius of his private life 
of Justinian and Theodora. 

Anfla^ Joumde des (Ff.) s see Joumde. 

Angel : a gold coin of tiie value of 6s. 8d. 
(Edw. rv to Chas. I) with a figure of 
St. Michael on the reverse. Oiig., 
Angel-noble, being a new minting of 
the noble. 

Angel altogether. An : a habitnal 
drunkard. A West-Indian slang 
phrase. 

Angel goes a-hnnting. When the : i.a., 
in foul weather. A Jewish saying. 
[Zangwill, Children of the Ghetto, I, 2 
(1892)] 

Angel of the Schools, The : St. Thomas 
Aquinas, the ang^c doctor (q.v.). 

AngA One’s good (better), or bad: 
one's better, or worse, sell It was 
previously hold by some that * every 
man hath a good and a bad angel 
attending on him in paxticulax all his 
life long.' [Burton, Anatomy of 



Angel] 


15 


[Ann 


Melancholy, Pt. I, Sect, ii, Mem. i, 
Sub*sect. 2 (1621)] 

Angel, There spoke an : used in approval 
of a proposal made by another. [Old 
•play of Sir Thomas More, p. 6] 

Angel, To write like an : in allusion to 
Angelo Vergecio (Vergetius) (fl. 1535- 
65), copier of Greek MSS., after whose 
design a font of Greek type was cast 
by order of Francis I of France. The 
phrase was later applied to authors as 
well as to calligraphists, e.g,, 

' Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for short- 
ness called Noll, 

Who wrote like an angel, and talked 
like Poor Poll. 

Garrick, Epitaph on Goldsmith, 
Angel unawares. To entertain an : to 
entertain a stranger for charity's sake 
and find him a highly worthy person. 
[After Hebrews, xiii, 2] 

Angels and ministers of grace ! : an 
exclamation of surprise. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, I, iv, 39 (1602)] 

Angel’s music ; the ringing of the Church 
bells. [Geo. Herbert, Temple : The 
Church Porch, st. 65 (1631)] 

Angels, To be on the side of the : to agree 
with the orthodox and more pleasant 
view of a moot question. In 1864, 
when Darwinism wais somewhat of a 
novelty, Benjamin Disraeli (after- 
wards Lord Beaconsfield) said in a 
speech before the Oxford Diocesan 
Society, ‘ That question is this : Is 
man an ape or an angel ? I am on 
the side of the angels.' 

Angels’ visits, few and fu between. Like : 
said of rare joys or periods of happiness. 
Forms 1 . 376 of Campbell's Pleasures 
of Hope {1799). [Norris, T'he Parting 
(1699) ; Blair, The Grave, 1 . ‘jSg • 

‘ Like those (^’isits) of angels, short 
and far between,'] 

Angels weep. Enough to make the : said 
of something particularly evil, sad or 
foolish. [Shakespeare, Measure for 
Measure, II, ii, 122 (1603)] 

Angelic Doctor (Angel of the Schools), 
The : St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1227-70), 
Italian scholastic theologian. From 
his discussions on the nature of 
angels. 

Angwca’s draught : a draught which 
changes one's affection. From a 
potion drunk by Angelica in Ariosto, 
Orlando Furioso (1516). 

Angelical Stone, The : a superstition of 
ihe alchemists. From the speculum 
claimed by the alchemist, Dr. John 


Dee {1527-16081, to have been given 
to him by the angels Raphael and 
Gabriel. 

Angelas, The : a Roman Catholic prayer 
in memory of the Annunciation, said 
at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Also the bell 
which summons worshippers to the 
prayer. From Angelus Domini nun^ 
tiavit Mariae, the Angel of the 
Lord announced unto Mary, the first 
words of the prayer. It is also the 
name of a famous painting by J. F. 
liillet, of the Barbizon School. 

Angle, A Brother of the : see Brother. 

Angle with a silver hook. To : to buy 
fish instead of catching it; to bribe, 

Anglo-Catholic : one who, while remain- 
ing in communion wth Rome, desired 
to secure the independence of the 
Church in England ; a member of 
the Church of England who claims for 
it a Catholic character. 

Anglo-Celtic : a term suggested by Sir 
Arthur Conan Doyle (Review of 
Reviews, June, 1898), as a substitute 
for Anglo-Saxon. 

Anglo-mania : a passion for imitating 
English fashions, customs, etc. 

Anglophobia ; Anglophobe, An : Un- 
reasonable hatred for and fear of 
England ; one who suffers from 
Anglophobia. [lUs, p. 83 (1862)] 

Angora : a fabric made of goat's hair ; 
horn Angora in Anatolia, where a 
special brood bf goats, famous for 
their silky hair, flourishes. 

Angostura ; angastnra : a tonic bitters. 
From the name of a town in Venezuela, 
now known as Ciudad Bolivar. 

Angry as a wasp. As : viciously angry. 
[Geo. Gascoigne, The Steel Glass 

(157^)] 

Anguilles de Melon, Les : cryxng out 
before one is hurt. In allusion to one 
Languille who took part in a mystery 
play at Melun. "When in the course of 
the play the executioner came to flay 
bjm alive, he became so nervous as to 
shriek out in his mental agony. 

Animal To go the eniire : to go the whole 
hog (q.v,). 

Animal Spirits : a vivaci^ due to youth 
and good health. Animal is used^ in 
the sense physical, as opposed to vital 
and natural. 

Ann , like Sister : who in the fairy-tale 
of Bluebeard kept watch from a tower 
to see whether or when the expected 
assistance for her sister Fatima would 
come in sight. 



Anna] 

Anna Matilda, An : an extremely 
sentimental girl. From the nom de 
•plume used by Mrs. Hannah Cowley 
(X743-1809), English dramatist and 
poetess. 

Ax^tes : the first year's income from a 
benefice, claimed by the Pope. Trans- 
ferred to Queen Anne's Bounty in 
1704. From Lat., annus, a year. 

Annusd compliment. An : a salary. 
[Dickens, Hard Times (1854)] 

Axmunciator, An (Amer.) : a bell or gong. 

Annunziata, Order of the : the highest 
Italian Order, founded by Amadeus V 
of Savoy in 1362. 

Annns mirabilis (Lat., the wonderful 
year) : the year 1666, famous for two 
English victories over the Dutch fleet 
and the great Fire of London, 

Annus mirabilis, An : a wonderful year. 

Anodyne Necklace, An : a hangman's 
rope. An anodyne is a reliever of 
pain. Nodus, on which the phrase is 
a pun, is the Latin for ‘ knot.' 

Anointed, The : Christ, the Messiah. 

Anon : the reply of waiters in the i6th 
cent, when called. 

Anonyma (Lat., a nameless female) : a 
woman of loose morals. A term in- 
vented by The Times (1862). 

Another gates : another sort, [Lyly 
Mother Bombie, 1 (1594)] 

Anserine (Lat., anser, a goose) : stupid, 
silly. 

Answer like a Norman, To : to reply 
evasively. 

Answer for the consequences. To : to be 
held responsible for the consequences 
of one’s action. 

Ant, As busy as an : see Proverbs, vi, 6-8. 

Antaeus, An : a powerful giant. From 
the Libyan giant and wrestler in Grk. 
mythology. 

Antediluvian : antiquated. Lit., before 
the Flood (Scriptural). 

Ant dope State, The : Nebraska ; on 
account of the number of the antelopes 
to be found there. 

Anthology : a collection of literary 
passages, esp. poems. From Grk., 
anthos (flower) and legein (to choose). 
First used by Philippus of Thessa- 
lonica, epigrammatist (fl. c. 100). The 
first anthology was compiled by 
Meleager of Gadara about a cent, and 
a half earlier, 

Anthony, St, : see St. Anthony. 

Anthony pig, To whine like an : from the 
starved pigs which the proctors of 
St. Anthony's Hospital, London, used 


[Anti-Remonstrants 

to protect and feed. These pigs used 
to follow their benefactors whining 
for food. 

Anthony’s fire : a pop. name for 
erysipelas. From the tradition that 
those who sought the intercession of 
St. Anthony recovered from the 
disorder. 

Anthropophagi (Grk., man-eaters) : can- 
nibals. 

Anti- Birmingham : a Tory, i.e., opposed 
to counterfeit, given to the opponents 
of the Exclusion Bill in 1680, by its 
supporters, who had themselves been 
dubbed ‘ Birmingham ’ by the Tories. 
The connection between Birmingham 
and counterfeit was due to the coining 
of counterfeit groats in that town. 

Antiburgher : the section of the Secession 
Church of Scotland which seceded on 
their part in 1747 on the ground that 
it was unlawful to take the Burgess 
Oath. 

Anti-Christ : Satan, the man of sin ; 
(with the Early Christians) the Roman 
Empire, the persecuting emperors ; 
(with the Protestants) the Pope. 
[I John, ii, 18] 

Anti-Corn Law League : an English 
political society formed in 1838 to 
secure the repeal of the import duties 
on com. 

Anti-Federalists : the precursors of the 
Democrats in American politics ; sup- 
porters of the rights of the States of 
the Federation. 

Anti-Jacobin : opposed to the Jacobins 
(q.v.) . The Anti- Jacobin was the name 
of a weekly periodical founded by 
George Canning and Wm. Giffard in 
1797- 

Anti-Masonry : opposition to free- 
masonry, the policy of a political 
party in the United States, during the 
second quarter of the 19th cent. 

Anti-Masque : a ridiculous interlude 
introduced into the Masque in the 
1 6th and 17th cents. 

Anti-Pamellites : the members of the 
Irish National Party who seceded and 
formed a new party in 1890 in conse- 
quence of the connection of their 
former leader Chas. Stewart Parnell, 
with the O’Shea divorce suit. 
Anti-Remonstrants : Irishmen who 

refused in 1666 to sign the remon- 
strance protesting against the theory 
that toleration of Catholicism was in- 
consistent with the security of the 
English State. 



Anti-Renter] 17 

Anti-Renter : one of the party of rebels 
in Albany, U.S.A. (1839-47), who took 
up arms in opposition to an attempt to 
collect overdue rents. 

Antic, An : Orig. a fantastic form found 
in class, sculpture. Subseq, (i) an 
archit. term to denote the grotesque ; 

(2) anything or anybody in any way 
grotesque ; (3) a ludicrous gesture or 
behaviour ; (4) a ludicrous per- 

formance. 

Antic, To dance (To play the) : to behave 
like one of the comic characters that 
took part in the Anti-Masque (<7.^.). 

Anticyra, Go to : Go to Bedlam (q.v.). 
From the city in Phocis, Greece, or 
that of the same name in Thessaly, 
both of which were noted for hellebore, 
the ancient remedy for madness. 

Antigone, The modern : Marie Th6rese, 
Duchess of Angouleme, daughter of 
Louis XVI of France, a name given to 
her by Louis XVIII. The original 
Antigone was the unhappy daughter of 
Oedipus, king of Thebes, and the 
subject of a tragedy of Sophocles. 

Antilegomena : the doubtful books 
included in the Canon of the New 
Testament. 

Antimacassar, An : a covering of a chair, 
etc., used as a protection. From Greek 
anii (against) and Macassar, the name 
of an oil. 

Antinons, An : a beautiful youth. From 
the name of a youth of Bithynia who 
was a favourite of Emperor Hadrian. 

Antipodes : the land exactly opposite on 
the other side of the world ; its 
inhabitants. From Grk. anti (oppo- 
site), podos (a foot). 

Anti-Pope : a pope improperly elected 
and not generally recognized. 

Antonines, Age of the : the reigns of the 
Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus 
Aurelius ; the period of domestic 
tranquility in Roman history. 

Antrustion : one of the military house- 
hold or bodyguard of the Merovingian 
Frankish kmgs. 

Anxious bench, On the : in a state of 
great difficulty or depression. At 
Methodist and other religious revivals 
in the U.S. the anxious benches used 
to be set aside for those members of 
the congregation who had repented of 
their previous life and desired to be 
admitted to the Church. 

Anzac, An : an Australian or New 
Zealand soldier. FromJ^the initial 
letters of Australian and New Zealand 


[Apocrypha 

Army Corps. Another derivation is 
from the Arab, anzak, to cause to 
jump, a suggested equiv. for kangaroo, 
a term applied to the first Australian 
soldiers in Egypt. 

Anziani : a council of the fourteen 
principal citizens (the Ancients) of 
Florence, appointed in the 13th cent, 
for the government of the State. 

Aonian : poetical. From Aonia, where 
the muses dwelt. 

Aonian Maids, The : the Muses. 

Ap- (Welsh, son) : found in compound 
names, e,g., Pryce-Ap-Ryce. 

Apache, An : a Parisian street-ruf&an. 
From the name of a tribe of N. Amer. 
Indians. 

Apache State, The : Arizona. From the 
many encounters with the Apache 
Indians within its borders. 

Ape, An : a fool. From the early phrase 
‘ to put an ape into a person's hood,' 
i.e., to make a fool of a person. 
[Chaucer, Prioresses Prologue (14th 
cent.)] 

Ape, To : to imitate ; as an ape 
imitates. [Massinger, City Madam, 
rv, iv (1632)] 

Ape-Carrier, An : a wandering bufioon. 
There used to be formerly a calling of 
professional buffoon, whose assistant 
was an ape. 

Apes in Hell, To lead (of old maids) ; 
from the monkish story that women 
married neither to God nor to man 
will be given to apes in the next world. 
See also Lead. [George Gascoigne, 
Workes (1577) ; Lyly, Euphues and 
His England (1580) ; Shakespeare, 
Taming of the Shrew, II, i (?I596)] 

Ape’s paternoster : chattering of the 
teeth, with fright or cold. 

AppeUes, An: a great painter. From 
the name of the greatest painter of 
antiquity, [fl. c. B.C. 332]. 

Aphrodisiac : exciting sexual desire. 
From Aphrodite, one of the names of 
the Greek Goddess of Love. 

Apician : luxurious in food. From 
Apiciub, a famous Roman epicure 
fist cent.). 

Apicius, An : a gourmand. See Apician. 

Apocalypse : revelation. A name given 
to certain Jewish and Christian 
religious writings (B.C. 200-A.D. 300) 
which relate to the ‘ last things.' 

Apocalyptic Number, The : 666. 

[Revelations, xii, 18] 

Apocrsrpha : books whose inclusion in 
the canon of the Bible is questioned. 

c 



Apocryphal] 

Originally Heb. writings whose mean- 
ing is hidden. 

Apociyphal : of doubtful authenticity ; 
not to be taken literally. 

Apollo : the sun. From the name of the 
Sun-god in Grk. mythology. 

A pnllnj An : an extiremely handsome 
youth. From the Olympian god 
famous for his manly beauty. Also 
a banqueting-chamber. pHerbert, 
TraueHs'l 

Apollo Bdifitoe* An: a handsome 
youth. The Apollo Belvidere is the 
famous statue of Apollo in the Vatican 
at Rome. (3rd cent. B.C.). 

ApoDo of Paringal, The : Luis Camoens 
(1524-80). Poitug. poet. 

ApnllnriiiM, To : to set oneself up as an 
authorily on music, poetry, etc. From 
Apollo, the patron of music and 
poetry. 

Apollyon {Grk,, destroyixig) : the Angel 
of the Bottomless Ht. \Revelations, 
ix, II] 

Apostle : one of the original missionaries 
or messengers of the Gospel ; one of 
the twdve principal officers of the 
Mormon Chn^. 

Apostle Gems ; jasper (St. Peter), 
sapphire (St. Andrew), chalcedony (St. 
James), emerald (St. John), sardonjnc 
(St. Philip), camelian (St. Bartholo- 
mew), chi^olite (St. Matthew), beryl 
(St. Ihomas), chiysoprase (St. Thad- 
deus), topaz (St. James the Less), 
hyacinth (St. Simeon), amethyst (St. 
Matthias). 

Apostle of Andalusia, The: Juan de 
Avila {1500-69). 

Apostle of the Ardennes, The: Si. 
Hubert (d. 727). 

Apostle of Bia^ The : Josdde Anchieta 

Apotiie^^^lnltare : one who claims to be 
a judge of good tELSte. Prob. invented 
by Sir Francis Bumand in Punch 
(c. 1880)* 

Apostle of the English, The : St. Augustine 
(d.c. 613). 

Apostle of Free Trade, The: Richard 
Cobden (i 804-65} • 

Apostle of the French, The : St. Denis 
(3id cent.}. 

Apostle of the Frisians, The: St. 
Willibrod (c. 657-738). 

Apostle of the Gauls, The : St. Irenaaus 
(c. 130-200). 

Apostie of the Gentiles, The : St Paul. 

Apostle of Germany, The : St Boniface 
(680-754). 


18 [Appanages 

Apostle of the Highlanders, The : St. 

Columba (521-97) • 

Apostle of the Indiaas, The : John Eliot 
(1604-90). 

Apostle of the Indies, The : St. Francis 
Xavier (1506-52). 

Apostle of Infidelity, The : Voltaire (1694- 
1778), Ft. philosopher. 

Apostle of Ireland, The: St Patrick 
(373-468). 

Apostle of the Xroquois, The : Fran9ois 
Piquet (1708-81). 

Apostle of liberty : Liberty. 

Apostle of the New World, The : Jos6 de 
Anchieta (1533-97)- 

Apostle of the No)^ The : Ansgar (9th 
cent); Bernard Gilpin (1517-83). 
Apostle of the Peak, The: William 
Bagriiaw (1628-1702), Eng. ejected 
Nonconformist. 

Apostie of Pern, Ihe: Alonso de 
Barcena (1528-98). 

Apostle of the Fiehi, The : St. Ninian 
(d. 432). 

Apostle of the Soots, The : John Knox 
(1505-72). 

Apostle of the Slavs, The : St Cyril 
(c. 315-86). 

Apostle spoon : a spoon with a figure of 
one of the Apostles on the handle, 
given at baptisms in the x6th and 
iTth cents. 

Apostle of the Sword, The : Mahom^, 
because he used his sword as an aid 
in his mission. 

Apostle of Temperance, The : Theobald 
Mathew ^1790-1856), Irish Preacher. 
Apostles of Mnito : Anarchists, 
Nihilists, or similar physical-force 
politicians. 

Apostles, Prinee of the: St Peter. 

IMatthew, xvi, 18, 19] 

Apostles, The Twdve {Cawb. Vniv ,) : 
the last twdve candidates who ob- 
tained the ordinary B.A. degree when 
the candidates were still ranged in 
order of merit Lot,, post alios, after 
the others. 

ApcMrfnlio Fatliers : the Early Christian 
Fathers, contemporaries of the 
Apostles. Clement of Rome, Barna- 
bas, Hennas, Ignatius and Polycarp. 
AposMio Majerty : one of the titles of 
the King of Hungary, conferred by 
Pope Sylvester II in 1000 A.D. 
Aposfolical soooession : spiritual succes- 
sion by ordination from the Apostles. 
Appanages : in France, the lands held 
by the Orown for the benefit of the 
younger sons of the Frendb. kings ; in 



19 


Apple] 

Russia, the imperial and grand ducal 
estates. 

Apple with an Ave Maria : an unknown 
superstitious or magical practice. 
[Lyly, Euphues and His England 
(1580)] 

Apple because of tbe core. To throw 
away the : to reject the good on ac- 
count of a slight blemish. [Bunyan, 
The EilgvinCs Progress {1678)] 

Apple-cart, To upset a person’s : to 
disarrange his plans and frustrate his 
intention. 

Apple, Dead Sea : a beautiful fruit that 
turns to ashes when bitten. From a 
fruit that grows on the shores of the 
Dead Sea. [Curzon, Monasteries of 
the Levant] Used metaphorically for 
hollow and unsatisfactory pleasures. 

Apple of Discord : a cause of dispute. 
The prize of Beauty, assigned by Paris 
to Venus, which was one of the ultimate 
causes of the Trojan War. 

Apple of one’s eye. The : the pupil of the 
eye ; hence that which is specially 
prized. Perhaps from Coptic al-bal, 
the ball (of the eye). [Deuteronomy, 
xxxii, 10] [King Alfred, Gregorys 
Past, XI, 68 (885)] 

Apple John : a species of long-keeping 
apple which ripens about St. John's 
Day (May 6). It keeps for a very 
long time and consequently generally 
withers. 

Apple-mongei : a bawd. From the 
activity in the i6th cent, of fruiterers 
as go-betweens in the service of lovers. 

Apple of perpetual youth. The : the apple 
of Idun, wife of Bragi, in Scand. 
mythology. 

Apple, Prince Ahmed’s : a universal cure. 
[Arabian Nights : Prince Ahmed] 

Apple of Sodom : see Apple, Dead Sea. 

Apple squire. An : a bawd ; an apple- 
monger {q.v.). 

Apples to Alcinous, To give : ‘ to carry 
coals to Newcastle,' i.e., to perform a 
work of supererogation. The reference 
is to the fertility of the apple-orchards 
of Alcinous, King of Coreyra in 
Corfu. 

Apples swim I How we : An exclamation 
of self-congratulation by a pompous 
individual ; in allusion to the fable of 
the apples floating down the river 
supported by horse-dung. 

Apple-pie bed. An nappe pu&e, a 
folded sheet) : a bed deliberately dis- 
ordered by folding up and over the 
lower sheet, as a practical joke. 


[April 

Another derivation is from ‘ apple 
turn-over,' a piece of pastry folded up 
and over from the sides. 

Apple-pie order : perfect and trim order. 
Several derivations have been given : 

(1) cap-a-pie order (Fr., de pied en cap) 

with reference to a fully caparisoned 
knight ; (2) d plis (in plaits), in neat 
and regular plaits ; (3) [Fr., nappes 
plUes, folded linen) neat as folded 
linen ; (4) ' Order is an old^word for a 

row, and a properly made apple-pie 
had, of old, always an order or row of 
regularly cut turrets, or an exactly 
divided border ' (Barr^re and Leland) ; 
(5) alpha beta order, as orderly as the 
alphabet. 

Apple-pie, To give a cidld : when correct- 
ing a cidld for sitting with one or both 
elbows on the table, the parent raises 
the arm and knocks it on the table. 

April and May, To smell of : to be young 
and of a courting age. 

April Ilsh, An : An April fool {q^v.), who 
is caught as easily as a fish. 

April Fool (Gowk) : the victim of a hoax 
on the 1st of April, a day on the fore- 
noon of which hoaxers have full 
licence. The custom originated in 
France, where in 1564 the beginning 
of the year was changed from the 
25th of March to the ist of January. 
In the earlier period New Year presents 
were exchanged on the ist of April. 
After the change people were made 
April fools by the pretence of giving 
them presents on the ist of April. Other 
derivations are : (i) from a mystery 
play performed at Easter, which fre- 
quently fell in April, in which Christ 
was depicted running fruitless errands ; 

(2) the alleged anniversary of the first 

return of the dove to Noah and the 
Ark ; (3) an echo of the Roman 

CereaUa which feU at the beginning of 
April. The story runs that Proserpina, 
playing in the Elysian meadows, was 
carried away to the lower regions by 
Pluto. Her mother, Ceres, hearing 
her voice, went on a fool's errand in 
search of it. 

April Fool’s Day : the ist of April ; see 
April Fool. 

April gentleman. An : a newly-married 
husband, who has made himself by his 
marriage an April fool. 

April poetry : that in which the reader 
is kept in expectation of two good 
lines to come after twenty bad ones. 
[Dryden, Discourse on Satire] 



20 


April] 

April squire, An : a newly-made squire ; 
a parvenu. 

Apron, Blue : Blue. 

Apron, Green : a lay preacher. 
[Warren, Unbelievers (1654)] 

Apron-man, An : a mechanic. 

Apron-strings, Tied to the: under the 
influence of a wife, mother, or other 
female relative. 

Apron-strings Tenure : tenure in virtue 
of a wife. 

Apropos de Bottes (Fr., apropos of 
boots) : something unconnected with 
the preceding remarks. The sug- 
gested origin is as follows : — A French 
noble having lost a lawsuit, told the 
king, Francis I, that the court had un- 
booted him {Vavait dihotU) instead of 
having decided against him {il avail 
itd dibouti). The error was due to the 
employment of I.atin in the courts. 
The King reformed the practice, but 
the members of the bar, who were 
annoyed at the change, said that it was 
made apropos de bottes, [Lord Chester- 
field, Letters, II, No. 96 (1757)] 

Aqua Regia [Lot,, royal water) : an acid 
capable of dissolving gold and platinum, 
the 'noble' metals. 

Aqua Tofana ; a colourless poison in- 
vented by a woman named Tofana of 
Palermo (d. 1730). 

Aqua Vitae [Lat,, water of life) : strong 
spirits ; orig. used by the alchemists. 

Aqua Vitae Man, An : a dram-seller. 

Aquinian Sage, The : Juvenal (c. 55-i35)» 
the Roman satirist, who was bom at 
Aquinium. 

Arab, An ; Arab, A street : a boy- 
frequenter of the streets. Orig. Arab 
(i.fi., wanderer) of the City. 

Arabesque : fantastic ; of a style of 
decoration. 

Arabian bird. The : the phoenix ; a 
marvellous man ; something unique. 
[Histrio-mastix, III, i, 11. 2-4 {1610)] 

Arabian Night, An : a fabulous story ; 
from The Thousand and One Nights, 
usually called The Arabian Nights, 

Arachne, An : a spider ; a weaver. From 
the name of a Lydian maiden who 
competed with Minerva in needlework 
and was changed by her into a spider. 

Arachne’s Art : weaving. 

Arachne’s Labours : spinning or weaving. 

Arachnean : gossamer ; web-like. 

Arbor Day : a day set apart in the 
United States, Canada, Australia, and 
New Zealand for the planting of 
trees. 


[Argo 

Arcades ambo {Lat., both Arcadians) : 
(of two people) both simpletons, 
innocents. See Arcadia. [Virgil, 
Eclogues, VII, 4 ; Burton, Anatomy of 
Melancholy (1621), to the Reader ; 
Byron, Don Juan (1821) canto iv, 
St. 93] 

Arcadia ; Arcady : a Utopia of poetical 
simplicity and innocence. After a 
pastoral and mountainous district of 
the Peloponnesus (* the Greek Switzer- 
land *) . 

Arcadian ; Arcadic : rustic, simple, 
innocent. After the Arcadians, the 
least intellectual of the Greeks. 

' Arcadian poetry,’ pastoral poetry. 
An ‘ Arcadian,* a shepherd, 

Arcadian nightingales : asses. [Rabelais, 
Pantagruel, V, 7, note] 

Arcadian youth. An : a simpleton. 
[Juvenal, Satires, VII, 159-60]. 

Arch Fiend, The : Satan. 

Arch Monarch of the World, The : 

Napoleon 111(1808-73) reigned 1852-70. 

Arches, Court of : an English ecclesi- 
astical court. From the original place 
of meeting, the Church of St. M[ary-le- 
Bow, or S. Maria de Arcubus. 

Arches, Dean of the : Judge of the Court 
of Arches. 

Arched eyebrow. With an : with an 
expression either of (a) derision, or 
(b) horror, [{a) Pope, Epistle to 
Arbuthnot (1735) ; (6) Gray, Agrippina, 
Act I, sc. I (1742)] 

Archie ; Archy, An : a Court-fool. 
After Archibald Armstrong (d. 1672), 
Court- jester. [Ben Jonson, Staple of 
News (1625), III, 2] 

Archilochian bitterness, etc. : keen, 
stinging. After Archilochus, a Greek 
satirist (fl. 650 B.C.), 'The Swift of 
Greek Literature.’ 

Architect, The Universal : God. [Cowley 
(1618-67), Essays, The Garden, III] 

Ardennes, The Boar of the : William de 
la Marck (d. 1485), Renaissance noble 
and soldier. On account of his resem- 
blance, both in appearance and 
manner, to a boar. 

Areopagus : a tribunal of the highest 
rank. After the locale, the Hill of 
Ares, of the highest judicial Court in 
Athens. 

Argie-bargio, To : a portmanteau-word, 
made up of to argue and bargain. 
A Scotticism, [Crockett, The Raiders 
(1896), ch. 15] 

Argo, An (Grk,) : a ship sailing on an 
adventure. After the name of the 



Argonaut] 21 

vessel on which Jason sailed to Colchis 
in his search for the Golden Fleece. 

Argonaut, An : one who sails on a 
voyage of adventure. See Argo. 

Argonauts of Forty-Nine, The : the 
adventurers who settled in California 
on the discovery of gold there in 1849. 

Argosy, An : a large warship or richly 
laden merchant-ship. Formerly 
* Ragusy.* Either from (i) Ragusa, an 
Adriatic port ; or (2) the * Argo ’ 

Argumentum ad haculinum (La^.» argu- 
ment at the stick) : club-law. 

Argumentum ad hominem (La^., argu- 
ment at the man) : an argument at 
the individual himself. [Locke, JSssay 
on the Human Understanding, IV, 
xvii (1690)] 

Argumentum ad pocketum : an argu- 
ment addressed to the pocket. 
Pocketum is, of course, artificial Latin. 

Argus, An : a watchful guardian. After 
Argos, the hundred-eyed guardian who 
was set by Juno to watch lo. His 
eyes were transferred by Juno to the 
tail of the peacock. 

Argy-bargy, To : see Argie-bargie. 

Argus-eyed: vigilant. 

Ariadne, An : a devoted female lover. 
After Ariadne, daughter of Minos, 
King of Crete, who assisted her lover 
Theseus to escape from the labyrinth 
in which he had been confined. 

Ariadne, The thread of : the thread by 
which Ariadne enabled Theseus to 
escape. 

Ariosto of the North, The : Sir Walter 
Scott. So-called by Byron in Childe 
Harold, canto IV, st. 40 (1818). After 
Ariosto (1474-1533), author of Orlando 
Furioso. 

Aristides, An : a man of inflexible im- 
partiality. After Aristides the Just 
(c, 530-468 B.C.), Athenian statesman 
and general, 

Aristides, The British ; Andrew Marvell 
(1621-78), English poet and satirist. 

Aristides, The French : Albert Gr6vy 
(1813-91), President of the French 
Republic. 

Aristippus, An : an advocate of luxury 
and self-indulgence. After the founder 
of the C3n:enaic sect of Greek 
philosophy (c. 435-356 B.C.). 

Aristocracy of Accident (of Nature) : the 
high-bom, as distinguished from the 
high-principled low-bom. [Harriet 
Martineau, Autobiography (1877)] 

Aristocracy of Labour, The : * those 

(labourers) whose lives are industrious. 


[Arm’s length 

temperate, and moral, and want only 
to be enriched by the culture which 
has hitherto been supposed to be the 
special possession of the better edu- 
cated.* Sir W. Besant, The Alabaster 
Box (1900). 

Aristocracy, The cold shade of: the 
unsympathetic patronage of the 
highly-placed. Term ori^nated by 
Sir Wm. Napier in his History of the 
Peninstilar War (1851). 

Aristophanes, The English ; Samuel 
Foote (1720-77), comedian and drama- 
tist. After Aristophanes (c. 448-385 
B.C.), the greatest of the Greek 
comedians. 

Aristophanes, The French : Moli^re 
(1622-73), dramatist. 

Aristotle, An : a philosopher. After 
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), known as the 
* Father of Greek Philosophy.* Some- 
times semi-ironically, eg., ‘ The Aris- 
totle of the village.* [Mrs. Oliphant, 
The Cuckoo in the Nest, ch. 2 (1892)] 
Reverence for Aristotle is enshrined 
in Jewish and Yiddish literature and 
idiom, e.g., ‘ If I had Aristotle's head, 
I might be able to find out why my 
legs are inferior.* [I. Zangwill, 
Children of the Ghetto, Bk. I, ch. 2 
(1892) possibly on account of the 
popular Jewish belief that he was a 
Jew] 

Aristotle of China, The : Tehuke (d. 1200). 

Aristotle of Christianity, The : Thomas 
Aquinas (1224-74), Scholastic philoso- 
pher and theologian. 

Ai^totle of the Nineteenth Century, The : 
George Leopold, Baron de Cuvier 
(1769-1832), French naturalist. 

Ark, To have come out of the (To have 
been bom in the) : to be very old- 
fashioned. In allusion to Noah's ark. 
[Sydney Smith (1768-1845), Memoir 

157] 

Arkansas Civil War : a dispute which 
developed into fighting between the 
supporters of rivsd candidates for the 
governorship of Arkansas in 1874. 

Arkansas tooth-pick. An : bowie-knife, 
as used in the State of Arkansas. 

Arm out further than one can draw it 
back again. To put one’s : to over- 
reach oneself. [Sir W. Scott, Rob 
Roy, ch. 22 (1818)] 

Arm, The Secular : the authority of a 
secular or temporal tribunal, as distin- 
guished from ecclesiastical authority. 

Arm’s length. At : at a short distance 
from . . ; on formal terms with. 



Arms] 22 

Arms, Passage of : a controversy, esp. 
between men of letters. 

Arms and the Man : a military hero. 
[Virgil, Mneid, I, 1. i ; title of a play 
by Bernard Shaw (1898)] 

Arms of courtesy : with lances at the 
extremities of which a piece of round 
flat board was fixed to avoid all 
danger except that from the shock of 
horses and riders. [Sir W. Scott, 
Ivanhoe, ch. 8 (1830)] 

Arms reversed, To have one’s : to be 
dishonoured. [Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe, 
ch, 24 (1830)] 

Arms, Up in : in a state of active indig- 
nation. [Burton, Anatomy of Melan- 
choly, To the Reader (1621)] 

Arms, With open : whole-heartedly ; 
cordially. [Sydney Smith, Peter 
Plymley*s Letters, V (1808)] 

Armada, An : any great fleet of war- 
ships. After the Spanish Armada sent 
by Spain against England in 1588. 

Armageddon, An : any wide-spread and 
bloody battle ; the site of such a 
battle. After the name of the place of 
the great battle which is to precede 
the Resurrection (Rev., xvi, 16) ; 
possibly connected with Megiddo, a 
battle-field in Palestine. 

Armagnac War, The : the war between 
the Emperor Frederick III and the 
Swiss in 1444. On account of the 
number of Armagnac mercenaries in 
the Imperial armies. 

Armagnacs, The ; the party of the 
Orleans princes in the French Civil 
War of 1410. After Bernard, Count 
Armagnac (d. 1418), one of the leaders. 

Armed Man, The: Death. [Dekker, 

The Seuen Deadly Sinnes : Crueltie 
(1606)] 

Armed Neutrality : action just short of 
war by a neutral power in time of war, 
jealous of its rights and anxious to 
safeguard them. The first Armed 
Neutrality was formed under the lead 
of Russia in 1780 and directed against 
England, at war with France, Spain, 
and the United States. 

Armed Soldier of Democracy, The : 

Napoleon I. 

Armed to the teeth : heavily armed, 

Armida, The Garden of : gorgeous 
luxury. After Armida, a beautiful 
sorceress in Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, 
who enticed, by means of her charms 
and her luxuries. Crusaders from their 
duty. [R. L. Stevenson, Familiar 
Studies : S. Pepys (1888)] 


[Arviragus 

Arminians : (il the followers of Jacob 
Harmensen Arminius (1560-1609), who 
led a secession from the Calvinist 
Church in Holland ; (2) the English 
High Church Party in the reign of 
Charles I. 

Amauts : the Albanians. So-called by 
the Turks. Lit., brave men. 

Arras : tapestry-hangings. After Arras, 
in N. France. 

Arri^re Ban : see Ban. 

ArriSre pens 6 e. An: (Fr., back thought) : 
an unstated motive ; a mental 
reservation. 

’Arry (and ’Arriet) : 'Arry as the t3rpe of 
the good-natured, easy-going, but 
vulgar, flashy, and loud-mouthed 
costermonger, who drops his h's and 
is usually seen with lids "Arriet on 
Sunday afternoons and Bank Holidays, 
was the creation of Edwin J. Milliken, 
the Punch artist. *Arry on *orseback 
in Punches Almanac for 1874 was 
"Arry"s d6but. 

Arsie-versie : upside-down. [N. Udall, 
Erasmus* Apophthegmes (1542)] 

Art and part of . . (in . . ) : an essential 
part of . . [Huxley, Life and Letters, 
Vol. I, p. 237 (1862)] 

Arts, The Seven : arithmetic, geometiy, 
astronomy, music, logic, rhetoric, 
grammar. [Histrio-niastipc, I, i, 6 
(1610)] 

Artful Dodger, An : one who combines 
considerable skill with disingenuous- 
ness. After the nickname of John 
Dawkins, a boy pickpocket in Dickens, 
Oliver Twist (1838). 

Arthur’s : a London club-house, founded 
in 1765. After the keeper of White's 
Chocolate House, who had died four 
years previously. [A. Murphy, Three 
Weeks After Marriage, Act II (1776)] 

Articles, Lords of the : the Committee 
which prepared measures for sub- 
mission to the Scottish Parliament. 

Articulo mortis. In (Lat., at the point of 
death) : in the last throes of death. 
[Estate of English Fugitives, p. 75 
(1596)] 

Artillery of Heaven, The : thunder and 
lightning. [Shakespeare, Taming of 
the Shrew, I, ii, 205 (1596-7] 

Artists, The Prince of : Albrecht Diirer 
(1471-1528), Germ, painter. 

Arviragus, An : a husband whose sense 
of honour leads him even to sacrifice 
his wife. After a character in Chaucer, 
Franklin* s Tale, derived from Boc- 
caccio, Diavora and Gilherto. 



23 


As] 

* As in praesenti ’ (Propria guae maribus). 
To learn one’s : to be starting on the 
rudiments of some study. These 
portions of sentences are, respectively, 
the first words of the parts of the old 
Eton Latin Grammay which treat of the 
conjugation of verbs and the genders 
of nouns, the sentences being As in 
praesenti perfectum format in avi {As 
in the present forms its perfect in avi), 
and Propria quae maribus. 

Ascapart, An : a giant. After a giant 
* ful th3nrty fote long ’ in the ballad of 
Sir Bevis of Southampton. [Shakes- 
peare, 2 Henry, II, iii (4to) (? 1592-4)] 

Ascii shadowless) ; the inhabitants 
of the Tropical Zone. 

Ascraean Poet (Sage)) The : Hesiod (fi. 
859-824 B.C.), who was bom at Ascra 
in Boeotia. 

Asculum) An : a Cadmean victory {q.v.), 
a victory tbat brings no advantage. 
After the victory of Pyrrhus over the 
Romans at Asculum (Ascoli) B.C. 278. 

Asgard : the abode of the gods, in Scand. 
mythology. ' As ' was one of the 
major gods. 

Ash Pole, The : selected in 1828 as the 
symbol of the American Whig party. 
After Ashland, Henry Clay’s plantation 
nr. Lexington, Kentucky. The Demo- 
cratic symbol was Hickory {q.v,). 

Ash Wednesday : the first day in Lent. 
From the Roman Catholic practice of 
sprinlding ashes on the heads of peni- 
tents, the priest saying : ‘ Remember, 
man, that thou art ashes, and unto 
ashes thou shalt return.’ The practice 
was abolished early in the reign of 
Edward VI. 

Ashes, As pale (white) as : very pale. 

Ashes in the mouth. To turn to ; to prove 
a great disappointment on realization. 

Ashes, To recover the : to win in a return 
contest, after a previous defeat. A 
cricketing metaphor, derived from a 
mock epitaph published by the 
Sporting Times in August 1882 on the 
final defeat of the English team by the 
Australians. ’ English cricket , . 
which died at the Oval, August 29, 
1882 . . the body will be cremated and 
the ashes taken to Australia.’ 

Ashlanders ; a political club identified 
with Ashland Square, in Baltimore. 

Ashkenazim : Jews who follow the Germ, 
or N. European ritual, as distinguished 
from the Sephardim, who follow the 
Span, ritual. From Ashkenaz (Med. 
Heb.), Germany, after Ashkenaz the 


[Ass 

son of Gomer (identified or confused 
with Germany). \Genesis, x, 3] 

Asian Mystery, The : Lord Beaconsfield. 
So described by Beresford Hope in 
1867 in the debate on the Reform Bill, 
in allusion to his Hebrew extraction. 

Aside, To go : to absent oneself. 
[Terence in English (1614)] 

Asiento {Span., agreement) : permission 
granted by Spain to England, Portugal, 
and France to trade in slaves with 
America. 

Asinego (Asinigo) : see Assinego. 

Asked in Church, To be : to have the 
banns of marriage put up in church. 
[Wily Beguiled, 1. 1515 (1606)] 

Asking, To be had for the : to be had 
very cheaply. [Susan Ferrier, Jw- 
heritance, ch. 18 (1824)] 

Asmodeus : the destroyer of domestic 
happiness. From the Heb. demon 
who, according to the Book of Tobit, 
destroyed Sara’s seven husbands in 
succession. 

Asmodeus flight, An : from the flight of 
the demon Asmodeus in Le Sage, Le 
Diable Boiteux (1726), in which the 
interiors of the houses were laid bare 
as he passed over them. 

Aspasia, An : a fascinating courtesan. 
After the mistress of Pericles. 

Aspen leaf. An : one who is always 
chattering. After the aspen-leaf, 
which, from the nature of its formation, 
is almost invariably quivering. To 
* tremble like an aspen-leaf ’ is to 
tremble violently. [Chaucer, Troilus 
and Creseide, Bk. Ill, 11. 1 200-1 
(c. 1380)] 

Ass ascends the ladder, UniQ the : i.e., 

never. A rabbinical saying. 

Ass, Burial of an : no burial at all. 
[Jeremiah, xxii, 19] 

Ass, To come from a horse to an : to 
descend in the social or financial scale. 

Ass to a horse. To go from an : to ascend 
in the soci^ or financial scale. 

Ass in a lion’s skin, An : a coward who 
attempts to bully ; a fool who pretends 
to be wise. From the fable of the ass 
concealed in the lion's skin that was 
betrayed by his bray. 

Ass of oneself. To make an to behave 
foolishly. * Ass ’ was a generic term 
for a stupid person even in the early 
Greek period. 

Ass, To give straw to one’s dog and 
bones to one’s : see Straw. 

Ass, To mount the : to become bankrupt. 
From the French custom in the i6th 



Ass] 24 [Athanasius 


cent, of mounting a bankrupt on an 
ass with his face to its tail. 

Ass, To se^ wool on an : see Wool. 

Ass, To shave an : see Shave. 

Ass with two panniers, An : a man 
walking between two women. Fawe 
le panief b, deux dries, to put one’s 
arms akimbo ; lit., to make with 
one's arms a basket with two 
handles. 

Ass’ Bridge ; Pons Asinorum : the 5th 
proposition of ist Book of Euclid ; 
owing to the difficulty found by begin- 
ners in mastering it. 

Ass’ shadow, To wrangle for an : to 
quarrel or argue about a trifle. From 
a story told by Demosthenes. 

Assassin, An : a secret murderer, esp. of 
a public personage. The Assassins 
were a fanatical Moslem sect, which fl. 
in Persia and Syria from nth to 14th 
cent. One of their doctrines was the 
assassination of all opponents. Their 
chief was Sheikh-al-Jabal, the chief 
(Old Man) of the Mountain. 

Assassins commencent ! Quo Messieurs 
les {Fr., Let the assassins begin !): 
the remark made by Alphonse Karr 
(1808-90) on the proposal to abolish 
capital punishment. 

Assault and battery : attack on the per- 
son with injury. When the hurt 
is inflicted the battery is committed. 
[Bartholomew Fairs (1641)] 

Assault-at-arms, An : an exhibition of 
military skill. 

Assaye Regiment, The ; the 74th Regt. 
of Foot, now ihe 2nd Highland Light 
Infantry. From its gallantry in the 
Battle of Assaye (1803). 

Assays, At all ; at all hazards ; prepared 
for anything that may happen. 
[Stubbes, Two Wonderful and Rare 
Examples (1581)] 

Assiento : see Asiento. 

Assignat, An : paper-currency issued by 
the 1st Revolutionary Government in 
France. 

Assinego (Asinego), An [Port., a little 
ass) : a fool, a silly fellow. [Shakes- 
peare, Troilus and Cressida, II, i, 49 
(? 1 60 6-7)] 

Assize of Arms, An : a universal military 
levy for national defence. Instituted 
by Henry II in 1181. 

Assize of Bread, The : regulation of the 
price of bread. Instituted by Henry 
III in 1266. 

Assize, The Last : the Last Judgment ; 
the Day of Doom. 


Assizes of Jerusalem, The : the code of 
legislation adopted by the Crusaders 
for Palestine in 1099. 

Assizes, The Bloody : see Bloody. 

Associated Counties, The : Norfolk, 
Suffolk, Essex, Hertford, Cambridge, 
Huntingdon, and Lincoln, which com- 

• bined in 1642-6 to keep the Civil War 
outside their boundaries. 

Assume the mantle of, To : to adopt the 
manners or responsibilities of . . In 
allusion to the mantle of Elijah 
to which Elisha succeeded. 

Astolpho’s book. Like: purveying uni- 
versal knowledge. In Ariosto, 
Orlando Furioso, Astolpho is one of 
Charlemagne’s paladins. 

Astolpho’s horn. Like a blast from : 
causing terror. From the horn given 
to Astolpho by Logistilla in Orlando 
Furioso, which, when blown, created 
a panic. 

Astr^a : equity ; innocence. The name 
of the Greek goddess of Justice. 

Astrsea, The Divine : Mrs. Aphra Behn 
(1640-89), Eng. dramatist, poetess and 
novelist. So called by herself. 

Astronomer of Dublin, The : the head of 
the most prominent rebel or traitor 
mounted on a stake, in the City of 
Dublin. 

At stake, To be : to be in jeopardy. 

Atalanta, An : a girl swift of foot. After 
a maiden in Grk. legend, who used to 
race with suitors for her hand. 

Atalantis, An : a scandalous narrative. 
After the title of a chromqtte scandaU 
ease by Mrs. Manley (1709). 

Atchison, An : a coin. Thomas Atchi- 
son was assay-master at the mint at 
Edinburgh during the reigns of Mary 
and James VI. His name was given 
to the base-metal coins that were then 
in circulation and which were in the 
year 1587 ‘ cryed down by Proclama- 
tion, because counterfeit in England 
and other foreign parts.’ 

Ateliers Nationaux : national workshops 
established for the unemployed by the 
French government in 1848. 

Atellan Fables : farces in ancient Rome 
performed by amateurs. After Atella 
in the Romagna. 

Athanasius contra mundum (Lat, A. 
against the world) : one against an 
enormous majority. In allusion to 
Athanasius (293-373), one of the most 
illustrious defenders of the Christian 
Faith, and author of the Athanasian 
Creed, 



Atlieiiseum] 25 

Atlien83iim : a literary or scientific 
institution. After the Athenaion, the 
Temple of Athene, at Athens. A 
school or university called the 
Athenaeum was founded at Rome by 
Emperor Hadrian, 

Athenian Bee ; Bee of Athens, The : see 

Bee. 

Athens of America, The : Boston, 
Massachusetts, the literary capital of 
the U.S. 

Athens of England, The : Melton 
Mowbray. 

Athens of Ireland, The : (i) Cork ; (2] 
Belfast. 

Athens of Scotland : Edinburgh. 

Athens of Switzerland, The : Zurich. 

Athens of the New World : Boston, 
Mass., literary capital of the U.S. 

Athens of the North, The : (i) Edin- 
burgh ; (2) Copenhagen. 

Athens of the South, The : Nashville, 
Tennessee, U.S. On account of the 
number of its educational institutions. 

Athens, The Thief’s : the Orisons. 

Athens of the West, The : Cordova, the 
intellectual centre of Spain from 8th 
to 13th cent. 

Athens, The German : Saxe-Weimar. 

Athens, The Modem : (i) Edinburgh ; 

(2) Boston, Mass, U.S. •; (3) Weimar, 

Athens, The Mohammedan : Bagdad, in 
the period of Haroun al Rascldd. 

Atlantean shoulders : powerful shoulders. 
After Atlas {q.v.). [Milton, Paradise 
Lost, II, 300 (1667)] 

Atlantes : figures of men used as supports 
in architecture ; see Atlas. 

Atlantic Greyhounds : fast liners plying 
between Europe and America. 

Atlantis : the legendary ' lost continent ' 
in the Atlantic Ocean ; mentioned by 
Plato and other early writers ; the site 
of the Elysian Fields. 

Atlantis, The New : an island, the home 
of a philosophical commonwealth 
devoted to the cultivation of the 
natural sciences, the product of Lord 
Bacon's imagination. 

Atlas, An : a book of maps. After the 
mythical King of Mauretania, Atlas, 
who was said to support the world on 
his shoulders, an illustration of whom 
appeared on the title-page of old 
atlases. 

Atlas shoulders : see Atlantean shoulders. 

Atomy, An : a dwarf or deformed 
person. A contraction of anatomy 
Xq.v.). [Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV, V, 
iv (1597-8)] 


[Attila 

Atonement : complete agreement and 
harmony ; the condition of being at 
one with others : at-one-ment. 

Atra cura {Lat., black care) : intense 
anxiety. [Horace, Odes, III, i] 

Atropos : that one of the Fates who used 
to sever the thread of human life. 
Atropine, the alkaloid poison, is named 
after her. 

Attains, The wealth of : unbounded 
riches. After Attalus I, King of 
Pergamum (241-197 B.C.). [Horace, 
Odes, Bk. I, i, 11-3] 

Attendance on, To dwce : to be at all 
times at the service of another. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Attic : (i) classical ; of elegant literary 
style; from the Grk. State Attica, 
whose capital was Athens ; (2) the top 
storey of a building with sloping roof. 
Originally, the room enclosed by the 
Attic architectural decoration. 

Attic Bee, The : (i) Sophocles (495-406 
B.C.), the Grk. tragic poet ; (2) Plato 
(427-347 B.C.), the Grk. philosopher. 

Attic Bird, The : the nightingale ; 
because Philomel was the daughter of 
the King of Athens. [Milton, Para- 
dise Lost, Bk. IV, 1. 244 (1667)] 

Attic Boy, The : Cephalos, beloved by 
the Mom. 

Attic Faith : inviolable faith. 

Attic Muse, The : Xenophon (c. 435-354 
B.C.), the Grk. historian. On account 
of the elegance of his style. 

Attic Salt ; delicate wit. In both Greek 
and Latin, salt was a synonym for 
The Athenians were noteworthy for 
their wit. 

Attic storey, In the: in the head. A 
metaphor drawn from architecture. 

Attic Warbler, The : the Attic Bird (?.v.)* 

Attic Wit : see Attic Salt. 

Atticus, The Christian : Reginald Heber 
(1783-1826), Bp. oi Calcutta, poet and 
h3^n-writer. The original Atticus 
(109-32 B.C.) was reputed to be the 
most elegant and finished scholar of 
the Romans. 

Atticus, The English : Joseph Addison 
(1672-1719), Eng. essa3dst. So called 
by Pope. 

Atticus, The Irish : George Faulkner 
(1699-1775). So-called by Lord 
Chesterfield. 

Attila, An : one who commits brutal 
atrocities. After Attila, * The Scourge 
of God,' King of the Huns, who 
ravaged the Roman Empire in 5th 
cent. See also Hun. 



Attomey-G^neral] 26 

Attorney-General of the Lantern, The : 

Camille Desmoulins (1762-94), French 
Revolutionist. In allusion to his 
practice of indiscriminately condemn- 
ing political opponents to be hanged 
from street-lamps. 

Attorney-General’s Devil, The : the 
Junior Counsel to the Treasury. See 
Devil for . . (To). 

Au eourant (Fr., in the current) : con- 
versant with. 

Au fait {Fr., in the fact) : expert, well- 
acquainted with . . [Horace Walpole, 
Letters, II (1748)] 

Au grand sMeux : see S^rieux. 

Au pied de la lettre [Fr., at the foot of the 
letter) : strictly, literally. [Horace 
Walpole, VIII, (1782)]. 

Au revoir! (Fr., until seeing you again) : 
farewell for the present ! [17th cent.] 

Auhade, An {Fv.) : a morning serenade 
or concert. In early Fr. poetry, a love- 
song sung at dawn. 

Audience to . . To give : to listen to . . ; 
to grant an interview to another for 
the purpose of hearing his views. 

Audit-ale : ale brewed for Audit days 
at Trinity College, Cambridge and 
other colleges, 

Audley (a matter). To John (Lord) : to 
bring it to a close. In the i8th cent. 
Shuter, manager of a travelling 
theatrical company, was accustomed 
to spin out the performance until an 
audience sufficient to fill the theatre 
again had collected ; whereupon a boy 
in front called out ‘ John Audley,' and 
the performance inside was brought to 
a rapid close. 

Audley over, To come Lord : to gull, 
deceive. Possibly from Mervin, Lord 
Audley, who was hanged for stealing 
in 1631. See also the previous en- 
try. 

Auf Wiederseheu ! {Germ., Until seeing 
you again !) : Farewell for the 
present 1 

Auge of . . In the : in the highest 
pitch. From ' auge,' the highest point 
in the course of the sun, the moon, or 
a planet. 

Augean task. An : an extremely difficult 
task. See Augean Stables. 

Augean Stables, To cleanse : to perform 
a dirty or unpleasant task which has 
long called for attention. After the 
stables of Augeas, King of the Epeians, 
in Elis. The cleansing of them, after 
30 years' of neglect, was one of the 
Labours of Hercules. 


[Aulic 

Augmentation Office, The : the office in 
which the records of the Augmentation 
Court (estab. by Henry VIII) were 
kept after its dissolution by Queen 
Mary. The Court's function was to 
decide claims against monasteries and 
abbeys. The name was derived from 
its augmentation of the royal 
revenues. 

Augur, To ; Augur, An ; Augury, An : 

(a) to foretell, esp. by omens; (6) a 
prophet from the Roman College of 
Augurs who foretold events from the 
flight of birds and other signs ; {c) 
an omen. 

August : (I, pronounced Aug'ust), the 
8th month, named in honour of 
Emperor Augustus, whose lucky month 
it was; (2, <pron. aug-ust'), inspiring 
respect, majestic ; also after Augustus. 

Augusta : the Roman name for London. 

Augustan Age, The : the greatest literary 
period in the history of a people. After 
the reign of Emperor Augustus, the 
greatest period in Latin literature. 

Augustan Age of England, The : (i) the 
reigns of Elizabeth and James I ; (2) 
the reigns of William III and Anne. 

Augustan Age of France, The : that of 
Louis XIV. 

Au^stan Age of Germany, The; the 
nineteenth century. 

Augustan Age of Portugal, The : that of 
35 on Alphonso Henrique. 

Augustine, The Second : Tliomas 
Aquinas (1224-75). St. Augustine, 
the greatest of the Latin Fathers, 
lived from 353 to 430. 

Augustus, An ; a great king whose rei^ 
confers peace and prosperity on his 
people. After the title of the first of 
the Roman emperors. 

Auld Farrant-like ; Auld Farrand : 
(Scottish) : old-fashioned ; possessing 
the attributes of age. 

AuldHorhie (Scottish) : Satan ; in allusion 
to his horns. From representations of 
the heathen god Pan. 

Auld Lang Syne : lit., old long since ; 
past times. [Title of a song by 
Robert Bums (1788)] 

Auld Re^e : ' 6ld Smoky,’ a name for 
Edinburgh. On account of the clouds 
of smoke that so often appear above it. 
Originally the name of the old town 
only. 

Aulic Council, The : the supreme Council 
of the Holy Roman and subsequently 
of the Austrian Empires. Estab. in 
1501. 



Aunt] 27 

Aunt, An : a prostitute or procuress. 
[Shakespeare and his contemporaries.] 

Aunt Sa%, An : an object put up to be 
aimed at. From the popular name of 
a cockshy at a fair, race-course, etc. 
Earlier, a black-faced doll used as a 
sign of a rag-shop. From Black Sal, 
a character in Pierce Egan, Life in 
London (1821). 

Auri sacra fames (Lat., accursed (sacred) 
hunger for gold) : overpowering desire 
for wealth. [Virgil, Mneid, III, 57] 

Aurora : the dawn. After the Roman 
goddess of the Dawn. 

Aurora’s Tears ; the morning dew. 

Ausgleich, An (Germ.) : an agreement 
between Austria and Hungary, that 
was renewable every ten years, for the 
settlement of economic, financial, and 
other differences between the two 
governments. 

Austerlitz, The Sun of : a symbol of good- 
fortune. In allusion to the sun that 
dispersed the clouds on the morning 
of the Battle of Austerlitz (Dec. 2, 
1805). 

Austrian Leeds, The : see Leeds. 

Austrian Hps : the thick under-lip 
characteristic of the Hapsburg family, 
that of the Austrian emperors, said to 
have first appeared in the family in 
the person of Emperor Maximilian I. 

Aut Caesar aut nullus (Lat., either Caesar 
or nobody) : everything or nothing. 

It was Caesar who said, ' Sooner first 
in a village than second in Rome.' 

Author of Evil, The : Satan. 

Authentic Doctor, The : Gregory of 
Rimini (d. 1358), Scholastic philoso- 
pher. 

Authorized Version, The : the English 
translation of the Bible of 1611 : 

' King James' Version.* 

Autocrat, The; Autocrat of all the 
Russias, The : the Tsar of Russia. 

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, The: 
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94), 
American man-of-letters. It forms the 
title of his most popular book. 

Auto-da-f6 ; Auto-de-f6 (Port., act of 
faith) : the public sentence and 
execution of one condemned to death 
by the Spanish or Portuguese 
Inquisition. 

Autoiycus, An : a witty, not too honest, 
pedlar. After a character in Shakes- 
peare, Winter* s Tale (1611). In Grk. 
legend, a famous thief. 

Automedon, An : a coachman. After 
Achilles’ charioteer. 


[Ayrsdiire 

Avatar : the appearance on earth of a 
deity. Hindu mythology. 

Ave Bell : see Ave Maria Bell. 

Ave IStoria, An : a prayer to the Virgin 
in the Roman Catholic Church: its 
two first words are ' Ave Maria,' 
' Hail, Mary.' 

Ave Maria Bell : the beU that summons 
to prayer when the Ave Maria is said. 

Avemus : hell. After a lake in the 
Roman Campagna, said to be the 
entrance to the Infernal Regions. 

Avignon Captivity, The ; the period of 
the residence of the Popes at Avignon 
under the control of the French kings, 

A.D. 1305-77- 

Avoirdupois : the general English 

st^dard of weight. Old-Fr., aveir de 
peis, goods of weight. 

Awful Unnamable, The : God, so-called 
by Thomas Carlyle (Heroes and Hero 
Worship, lect. VI). 

Awkward Squad, An : an untrained 
party ; a squadron or party of un- 
trained or insufidciently-trained 
recruits. 

Awls and be gone. To pack up one’s : to 
make a complete and permanent 
departure. Either from * all,’ every- 
thing ; or from ' awl,* the shoe- 
maker's tool. 

Axe after helve, To send : to throw good 
money after bad. [John Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Axe on the helve, To put the : to have 
solved a difi&culty. 

Axe to grind. To have an : to have a 
personal end to serve. From the 
American backwoodsmen’s practice of 
calling at houses ostensibly to grind 
an axe but in reality to obtain a drink. 
Based on a story told by Charles 
Miner (1780-1865), ' Who'll turn the 
grindstone ? ' in the Wilkesbarre 
Gleaner of 1811, of a man who, by 
flattery, induced a boy to turn the 
grindstone while he sharpened his axe. 

Axe, To hang up one’s : to retire from 
business ; an allusion to the battle- 
axe of the pass^ warrior. 

Axe, To open a door with an : see Open. 

Ayankeeados : Mexican sympathizers 
with the U.S. during the war between 
the two countries in 1846. 

Ay-ma ; Ay-mee, An : a lamentation. 
A corruption of ' Ah me.* [Beaumont 
and Fletcher, Tamer Tam*d, III, i 
(1604)] 

Ayrshire Poet, The : Robert Bums 

• (1759-96), bom near Ayr. 



Azazelj 28 [Back 


Azazel : the scapegoat ; on which the 
sins of the Jewish people were laid 
by the High Priest. Properly, a name 
of Satan. 

Azrael, The Angel of : the angel that 
separates the soul from the body at 
the moment of death. 

Azrael, The Wings of : the coming of 
death. 


B. and S. : brandy and soda, as a drink. 
The initial letters. 

B from a battledore, Not to know a : to 
be quite illiterate or stupid. A battle- 
dore was a hom-book from which 
children were taught the alphabet. 
[John Halle, Historiall E^:postulation 

(1565)] 

B from a bull’s foot. Not to know a : to 

be quite illiterate. In allusion to the 
supposed resemblance of a bull's 
parted hoof to the letter B. [Pol, 
Poems, II, 57 (A.D. 1401)] 

B-flat, A ; a bug. On account of the 
flatness of these insects. 

B’s, The Four : blood, brains, brass 
(impudence), brads (money). An 
Americanism. 

B, Marked with a : of little value. Owing 
to the coincidence that in French many 
physical defects are expressed by 
words beginning with the letter B, e.g„ 
high, squint-eyed ; hoYgne, one-eyed ; 
bossn, humpty. 

Baal, A : a false god. The name of the 
principal god of Canaan. 

Babel, A : a confusion of tongues, an 
uproar. After Babel, the tower of 
which the building was interrupted by 
the miraculous confusion of tongues. 
{Genesis, ix). [Bartholomew Faire 
(1641)] 

Babel, A Tower of : a lofty structure ; 
a visionary scheme. 

Babes in the Wood ; (i) a pair of harm- 
less but ill-used orphans, a boy and a 
girl ; (2) rebels who infested the 

woods of Wicklow and Enniscorthy in 
the 1 8th cent. ; (3) men confined in 
the stocks. From characters in an old 
pathetic ballad so-entitled. 

Babies in the Eyes : the reflection of 
oneself in a lover’s eyes. [Drayton ; 
Herrick ; possibly alluded to by- 
Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, I, ii. 
(? i 607)] 

Baba ; Baboo : a semi-educated Hindu ; 
an Indian clerk. Now the Hindu 
equivalent of Mr. or Esquire. 


Babylon, A : any luxurious and magnifi- 
cent capital city ; esp. Rome and the 
Vatican. After the capital of the 
ancient Empire of Chaldaea. 

Babylon, The Modern : (i) London ; 

(2) the Church of Rome. 

Babylonian Numbers ; astrology ; 
attempts to foresee the future. The 
Chaldeans of Babylon were devoted 
to magic. 

Babylonish Captivity, The : the period of 
residence of the Popes at Avignon 
(see Avignon Captivity) . Properly, 
the exile of the J ews in Babylon, from 
the time of Nebuchadnezzar to that 
of Cyrus. 

Baca, A Valley of : a place or period of 
depression. [Psalm Ixxxiv, 6] 

Bacchus : wine. After the Grk. god 
of wine. 

Bacchus, A Son (Priest) of : a drunkard. 

Bachelor girl, A : an unmarried girl who 
lives away from home, either in 
apartments or at a club. 

Bachelor, To be a lady’s : to act as 
knight to a lady. 

Bachdor President, The : James 
Buchanan (1791-1868), 15th President 
of the U.S. 

Bachelor’s buttons. To wear : to be un- 
married. From the superstition 
attached to the campion-flower 
(‘ bachelor's button '), which was 
supposed to have a magical effect on 
the fortunes of lovers. [Thos. 
Heywood, Fair Maid of the West 
(1631)] 

Bachelor’s fare : bread, cheese and 
kisses. 

Bachelor’s wife, A : the ideal wife. 
[John Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Ba^, To : to bet or wager on. From 
the commercial practice of backing, or 
endorsing, a biU or cheque on behalf 
of another. 

Back and edge ; completely. The back 
and the edge comprise the whole of 
the knife, etc. [Lady Alimony, III, 
vii (1659)] 

Back, Behind a person’s : surreptitious- 
ly ; in his absence ; without his 
privity. [Lilly, Campaspe, IV, i 

(1584)] 

Back, To oast behind one’s : to reject. 
[Nehemiah, ix, 26] 

Back down. To : to yield, submit. 
Perhaps a metaphor drawn from the 
game of leap-frog. 

Back, To give a person the : to turn 
away from. 



Back] 29 

Back into . . To put one’s : to put the 
whole of one’s energy into . . 

Back (neck) of . . To break the : to 
perform the essential, usually the 
hardest, part of . . 

Back Number, A : a person whose ideas 
or methods are out of date. A 
journalistic metaphor. 

Back of . . To ride on the : to deceive. 

[The Wizard (1640)] 

Back of . . To see the : to complete (a 
task) ; to see the last of (a person). 

As if it (or he) had gone away from 
you. 

Back on . . To turn one’s : to throw 
over . . ; to give up, withdraw from . . 

Back out of . . To : to withdraw from , . 

Back, Thrown on one’s : completely 
defeated. A wrestling metaphor. 

Back to the wall. To have one’s : to 
stand at bay, facing odds. The 
natural desire in such circumstances is 
to have the back protected. 

Back up . . To : to support . . as if 
standing behind. 

Back up. To get a person’s : to arouse his 
active opposition. From the cat’s 
habit of raising its back when faced 
by an opponent. [Dame HuddWs 
Letters (1710)] 

Back-bite, To : to slander or speak ill 
of a person in his absence. Lit., to 
bite a person in the back. [Proverbs, 
XXV, 23 ; Cott, Horn. 205 (1175)] 

Back-door : clandestine. Since begin- 
ning of 17th cent., when it was possible 
to gain one’s way at Court by under- 
hand intri^e. [Shakespeare, 
Cymbeline, V, hi, 45 (1611)] 

Back-friend, A : a false friend, or secret 
enemy. [Falkland, The Marriage 
Night, III, i (1664)] 

Back-lmd, To hold a person’s; to 

support. 

Back-hander, A : a blow with the back 
of the hand; an unexpected rebufE. 

Back-lane Parliament, The : an assembly 
of Irish representatives in 1792, which 
requested the grant of the franchise. 

Back-rag (rack) : a German wine. From 
Bacharach, where it was grown. 

Back-seat, To take a : to withdraw into 
a less prominent position. The phrase 
was popularized by Andrew Johnson 
(President of the U.S.) in 1868. 

Back-sheesh'; see Bakshish. 

Back-slide, To : to deteriorate or fall 
away morally. 

Back-stairs influence : secret, underhand 
influence. From the private stairs of 


[Badge-men 

some palaces which could be secretly 
mounted. 

Backward blessing, A : a curse. Accord- 
ing to superstition to recite the Lord’s 
Prayer backwards was to incite evil. 

Backbone : (i) firmness of character ; 
steadfastness; (2) the main support. 
Metaphorical use of backbone as 
spine. 

Backfish, A [Germ., Backfisch, fish for 
frying) : a girl of about 16 or 17. 

Backwoodsmen : reactionary members 
of the House of Lords who very seldom 
attended its sittings but were always 
available when needed to outvote the 
advocates of reform. 

Bacon, To baste a person’s : to thrash 
him. From the Noiman habit of 
calling the Saxons * hogs.* 

Bacon, To save one’s : to rescue oneself 
from an awkward situation. [Peter 
Pindar, The Lousiad, II (1786)] 

BacK>n of Theology, The : Bishop Joseph 
Butler (1692-1752), author of Analogy 
of Religion, After Francis Bacon 
(1561-1626), the intellectual giant. 

Baconian, A : one who holds that Francis 
Bacon, Lord Verulam, wrote the works 
attributed to Shakespeare by almost 
universal consent. This contention 
is called * The Baconian Theory.’ 

Baconists ; the Liberal Party in Virginia 
and in Maryland at the end of the 17th 
cent. After Nathaniel Bacon (1642- 
76), The Virginia Rebel. 

Bactiian Sage, The : Zoroaster (9th 
cent., B.C.), the founder of the Magian 
religion. He was bom in Bactria. 

Bad blood : ill-feeling. [Brother Jonathan, 
I, 74 (1825)]. 

Bad books. In a person’s : see Books. 

Bad cess to you 1 : ill-luck attend you ! 
Irish ’ cess,’ board and lodging. 

Bad debt, A : an unrecoverable debt. 

Bad egg, A : see Egg. 

Bad form : behaviour not in accordance 
with etiquette. A metaphor derived 
from the racing-stable. 

Bad hat, To be a (shocking) : see Hat. 

Bad Lands : a desolate region in the 
North-West of U.S. 

Bad, To go to the: to degenerate, 
deteriorate ; to fall away in the 
direction of ruin. 

Badge of poverty. The : in reference to 
the badge at one time borne by those 
who received parish relief. 

Badge-men : licensed beggars. In 
allusion to the badge formerly worn by 
inmates of almshouses. 



Badger] 3o 

Badger, To : to annoy, to worry ; as a 
badger-hunter treats a badger. 

Badger State, The : Wisconsin. From 
the badger on its coat of arms. It is 
said that this emblem is derived from 
the habit of the early miners in the 
State, who in the winter lived in the 
earth like badgers. 

Badger, As uneven as a : very uneven. 
From the vulgar error that the two 
right legs of a badger are shorter than 
the left. 

Badinguet : Napoleon III. After the 
name of the workman in whose clothes 
he escaped from prison at Ham in 
1846. 

Badminton : (i) a drink made of claret ; 

(2) a game played with battle-dores 
and racquets , after Badminton, 
the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort, 
where it was introduced ; {3) blood 
(a pugilistic term), after Henry 
Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort 
(1792-1853), a patron of the prize-ring. 

Bag and baggage: originally all the 
property of an army. [Rymer, 
Foedera, X (1422)]. ' Bag* was an 
allusion to the soldier’s receptacle for 
bis portable property ; * baggage * was 
the term used for the female followers 
of an army, either from the baggage 
wagons in which they rode or from 
Ital. hocgascia, harlot. 

Bag and baggage, To march out with : 
(of an army) to withdraw honourably 
with all its impedimenta ; (of an 
individual) to be turned out with all 
his belon^gs. 

Bag and baggage policy. The: the 

policy advocated by W. E. Gladstone 
in 1876-78 of the expulsion of Turkish 
rule from Europe. [Speech of 7th 
May, 1877] 

Bag and bottle provisions : cf. Ballad of 
Robin Hood and the Shepherd, [Ful- 
well. Like Will to Like, 1 . 559 (1568)] 

Bag of tricks, The whole : ever^^hing. 
From the fable of The Fox and the Cat. 

Bag, The bottom of the : the last resource. 

Bag, To empty the : to tell the whole 
truth. Fr., vider le sac, to expose 
everything to view. 

Bag-man, A : a commercial traveller of 
an inferior class. From the practice 
of carrying samples in a bag. 

Bag-of-bones, A ; an emaciated person. 

Bagatelle, A (mere) {Hah bagatella, a 
little property) : a trifle. 

Baggage, A : a disreputable woman. 
[Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew 


[Balaam 

(? 1-596)] ; a young woman, in a 
familiar sense. [Davenant, The Witts 
(1636)] See Bag and baggage. 

Bsdly’s Beads : the appearance of the 
sun (like a string of beads) when an 
eclipse reduces it to a thin disc. After 
Francis Baily (1774-1844), by whom 
the resemblance was first pointed out. 

Baiting-stock, A : a laughing-stock • an 
object to be baited. 

Bajnlus. A: a pedagogue. After aa 
officer of the Greek Imperial Court. 

Baker, The; Baker’s Wife, The: (a) 
Louis XVI ; (b) Marie Antoinette. 

From the trade in com conducted in 
the environs of their palace at 
Versailles. 

Baker, To meet a splay-footed : to receive 
a warning of ill-luck. 

Baker, To spell : to undertake a difficult 
task. In the old spelling-books 
' baker * was the first word of two 
syllables. 

Baker’s dozen, A : thirteen. Pedlars 
in bread were formerly supplied with 
thirteen loaves for the price of twelve, 
the additional loaf representing their 
profit. Another derivation gives a 
^ Devil’s Dozen ’ as an equivalent, 
thirteen being the quorum at a 
Witches’ Sabbath. (Bakers were 
formerly very unpopular and as a 
sign of their unpopularity * Baker ’ 
was substituted for ’ Devil.') It is 
also said that to avoid the risk of 
giving short weight (an offence former- 
ly visited with heavy punishment) 
bakers were accustomed to give 
thirteen loaves for twelve. 

Baker’s dozen. To give a : to give a 
sound thrashing (more than wa.s 
expected) . 

Bakshish ; Baksheesh ; Bucksheesh 

{Persian, hakhshidan, to give alms) : a 
tip or bribe, in Moslem countries. 

Balaam (Balaamite), A : one who 
approves when he is expected to dis- 
approve ; one who makes a profit out 
of his religion. After the prophet 
whose story is told in Numbers, xxii- 
xxiv. 

Balaam : (journalistic) odds and ends of 
’ copy ’ used to complete columns in a 
newspaper. Possibly from the prophet 
on the asumption that, like Balaam’s 
ass, these odds and ends are of little 
value. 

Balaam Box (Basket), A ; a receptacle 
for odds and ends of ‘ copy ’ for which 
a use may be found. See previous entry. 



Balaam] 3i 

Balaam’s Ass, A : a servant who is more 
far-seeing than his master. From the 
story of Balaam and his ass. {Numbers, 
xxii-xxv] 

Balaam’s Blessing, A : an intended curse 
that becomes a blessing. [Ibid.} 

Balance and to be found wanting. To be 
weighed in the : to fail when tested. 
From the writing on the wall at Bel- 
shazzar’s Feast. [Daniel, v, 27] 

Balance, Not to go above the : to 
' reverence justice ; for neither fear nor 
flattery to lean to anyone partially. 
[Lyly, Euphues "The Anatomy of 

Wit (1579)] 

Balance of Power, The : military and 
naval equilibrium between the * Great 
Powers ’ of Europe. [London Gazette, 
No. 3758 (1701)} 

Balance of Trade, The : the difference 
between the value of the imports into 
and the exports from a country. 
[Child, Discourse on Trade (1668)] 

Balance, To be thrown off one’s : to be 
taken at a disadvantage through 
surprise. 

Bald as a coot. As : very bald. In 
allusion to the absence of feathers 
from the front portion of the head of a 
coot. [Tjmdale, Works, II, 224 (1530)] 

Baldachin ; Baldaquin : a canopy-like 
structure ; a canopy over the altar or 
over the Holy Sacrament when 
carried in procession. From Bagdad, 
the source of the silk of which the 
canopies were made, through Ital., 
haldacco and baldacchino. 

Bale out the sea, To : to undertake a 
useless task. 

Balkanize, To : to split up into small 
and mutually hostile states, such as 
those of the Balkan Peninsula. Term 
introduced during the discussion of the 
treaties that concluded the European 
War of 1914-18. 

Ball, A : a dancing-party. From the 
early practice of combining a game of 
ball with the dancing, derived from the 
game of ball played in church by the 
Dean and choir-boys of Naples during 
the Feast of Fools. 

Ball at one’s feet, To have the : to have 
a desired opportunity at hand. A 
football metaphor. [Bunyan, The 
Holy War, (1682)] 

Ball before the bound, To catch (take) 
the : to anticipate an opportunity. 

A ball-game metaphor. [Howell, 
Familiar Letters, Bk. I, §4, Letter ix 

(1647)] 


[Balmy 

Ball of Fortune, To be the : to be subject 
to the fluctuations of fortune, tossed 
about as is a ball. 

Ball on the bound, To catch the : to 

seize an opportunity that offers itself. 
A baU-game metaphor. 

Ball rolling. To keep the ; to prevent 
an enterprise, conversation, etc., from 
coming to a standstill. From the 
game of Bandy, or of Lacrosse. 

Ball, To be a tennis- : to be bandied 
about by other people, as if 
one were a tennis-ball. [Warner, 
Albion’s England, VI, xxx, 15 1 

(1589)] 

Ball one’s own way. To have the : to 

do oneself a good turn. 

Ball, To open the : to start an enterprise. 
A dancing metaphor. 

Ball under the line, To strike the : to 
fail. A tennis metaphor. [John Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Ball up, To keep the: to prevent a 
conversation from flagging or a move- 
ment from coming to a standstill. A 
ball-game metaphor. 

Balls, Three Golden : the sign of a 
pawnbroker. From (i) three purses 
of gold, the emblem of St. Nicholas ; 
or (2) the arms of the Medici family 
(three golden pills, referring to the 
origin of the family name from 
medicus, physician) ; or (3) the balls 
of the mace of the giant Mugello, 
killed by Averardo de Medici, one of 
the Knights of Charlemagne. 

Ballambangjan, Straits of: a sailor’s 
term for a region of incredible 
adventures. 

Ballast, A man of no : a man of no 
stability. From the unsteadiness of a 
ship deficient in ballast. [Bacon, 
Essays : Vainglory (1612)] 

Ballon d’Essai, A {Fr,, a trial balloon) : 
a proposal or scheme put forward to 
test public opinion or interest. 

Ballot-box, To stuff the : to obtain false 
returns at an election by means of a 
fraudulent ballot-box. 

Ballplatz, The : the Foreign Office of the 
late Austro-Hungarian Government. 
From the name of the street in Vienna 
in which it was situated. 

BaDyrag, To : see Bullyrag. 

Balm in Gilead : a soothing agency or 
influence. {Jeremiah, viii, 22] 

Balmoral, A : a Scotch cap. After the 
royal residence in Scotland. 

Balmy : sleepy. Frequently misused 
for Barmy (?.v.). 



Balmy] 32 

Balmy stick. To put on the : to feign 
madness. Prison slang. See Barmy. 
Baltimore, A ; Baltimore bird, A : a 
North American bird with plumage of 
the same colours as the arms of Lord 
Baltimore, founder of Maryland. 

Balts : inhabitants of the Baltic 

provinces of Russia, i.e,, Esthonia, 
Livonia, Courland. 

Bamhocdades : pictures of low-life. 
From Pieter van Laer (i6i3'73) 
{bamboccio, Ital. for ' cripple '), who 
first painted such pictures. 

Bamboozle, To : to deceive by a trick. 

A slang word, possibly of gipsy origin, 
introduced into the English language 
about 1700. [The Tatler, No. 230 ; 
Colley Cibber, She Would and She 
Would Not, II, i (1703)] 

Ban, ArriSre : a proclamation of the 
French kings, summoning to military 
service. 

Banal : commonplace. From Ban, the 
service imposed on subjects in mediae- 
val France. 

Bananaland : Queensland. On account 
of the number of bananas grown there. 

Banbury, As wise as the Mayor of : very 
foolish. The Mayor is reputed to have 
held that Henry III preceded Henry II. 

Banbury cheese, As thin as a : Banbury 
cheese was reputed to be the thinnest 
of poor cheese. [Shakespeare, Merry 
Wives of Windsor, I, i (1598)] 

Banbury, As drunk as a ti^er at : the 
allusion is unknown. [The London 
Chanticleers, V (1659)] 

Banbury Man (Saint), A : a Puritan. 
Banbury was a centre of Puritanism 
in the i6th and 17th cents. 

Banda Oriental ; the former name of 
the Republic of Uruguay. 

Bandbox, As neat as a : as neat as clothes 
packed in a bandbox. 

Bandbox, To look as though one had 
stepped out of a : to be very trim and 
dapper. See previous entry. 

Bande Noire (Fr., black band) : (i) 

certain regiments in the French service 
in the i6th cent. ; (2) speculators who 
bought Church property and confis- 
cated estates in the course of the 
French Revolution, and acted as 
vandals in their treatment of buildings 
of archseological value. 

Bandy, To : to exchange (words, blows, 
etc.). A metaphor drawn from the 
game of tennis, formerly called Bandy. 

“ Bang went saxpence I : a reference 
to the proverb!^ meanness (? frugality) 


[Banyan 

of the S cots . Immortalized by Charles 
Keene in Punch, Originally overheard 
by Sir John Gilbert as passing the 
lips of a recently arrived visitor from 
Glasgow who complained of the ex- 
travagance of London. 

Banian : see Banyan. 

Banjo A ; a stringed musical instrument. 
From Pandoura, a Greek stringed 
instrument named after the god Pan. 

Bank Holiday, A : a general holiday on 
which banks are compelled by Act of 
Parliament to close. 

Bank, In : in hand. Lit., readily 
available at one's bank. [Vanburgh 
and Cibber, The Provoked Htishand, 
III, i (1728)] 

Bank, Sisters of the : loose women who 
frequented the Bankside {q.v.). 

Bank, To break the : to be so successful 
in gambling as to exhaust, temporarily, 
the resources of the director of the 
game. 

Bwiks’s Horse : a performing horse 
belonging to a man named Banks 
between 1590 and 1601. Both the 
horse and its owner are said to have 
been burnt ultimately by the Inqui- 
sition at Rome.- 

Banker Poet, The : (i) Samuel Rogers 
(1763-1855), English poet; (2) Ed- 
mund Clarence Stedman (1833-1908), 
American poet. 

Bankside : the Southern bank of the 
Thames between Waterloo and Black- 
friars Bridges, the resort of women of 
loose character. 

Banshee, A [Gaelic, bean sidhe, woman- 
fairy) : an Irish spectre believed to 
warn certain Irish families of ap- 
proaching death. 

Bant, To : to practise the banting 
system [q.v.). 

Bantam-weight, A : a boxer not ex- 
ceeding 8 st. 4 lb. in weight. After 
the bantam, a small variety of fowl, 
hence anything below the average in 
height or weight. 

Banting System, The : a system for 
reduction of corpulence by dieting. 
After Wm. Banting (1797-1878), for 
whom it was prescribed by William 
Harvey and by whom it was recom- 
mended to the public in A Letter on 
Corpulence. 

Banyan (Banian) Days : days on which 
meat is not eaten. After Banian, a 
native class in India, whose members 
abstain from eating meat, holding 
animal-life sacred. 



Banyan] 33 

Banyan Hospital : a hospital for animals. 

Sse previous entry. 

Baptism of fire : the first occasion on 
which a soldier goes under fire; an 
introduction to any situation of danger. 
Used by Napoleon at St, Helena 
(Aug. 2, 1817). [O’Meara, Voice from 
Si. Helena] 

Bar, To pitch the : to exaggerate. 
[Spectator, Nov, 17, 17 ^^] 

Bar, To pitch over the : to discard as no 
longer of use. [Sir Thos. Overbury, 
Characters: A Meere Peityfogger {1616)]. 

Bar, A trial at : a triad before a full 
bench of judges. 

Bar sinister, A : a device in heraldiy ; 
erroneously considered an indication 
of illegitimate birth. Properly the 
bar drawn the reverse way, i.e., from 
right to left. 

Barahas, A ; a thief. After the criminal 
who was pardoned on the occasion of 
the Crucifixion. 

Barathron ; Barathrum : hell ; a deep 
pit. After a pit at Athens into which 
criminals were thrown. 

Barbadoes Leg : a form of elephantiasis. 
After the island in the West Indies, 
where it is prevalent. 

Barbaiossa (Lat., red-beard) : the 
Emperor Frederick I (i 121-90). On 
account of his red beard. 

Barbary : North Africa generally. Grk., 
Barharia, land of harharoi (foreigners). 

Barbary Latin : uncultured Latin as dis- 
distinguished from literary Latin. The 
Latin of the Roman colonies in N, 
Aihica. 

Barbecue, A : (Haytian, harbacoa, * a 
framework of sticks set upon posts.' 

E. B. Tylor). (i) a frame for roasting 
or drying large joints of meat ; (2) 
an animsd roasted whole ; (3) an open- 
air entertainment at which animals 
are roasted whole; (4) the wooden 
framework of a bed. 

Barber Poet, The: Jacques Jaomin 
(1798-1864), Provencal poet who was 
also a barber. 

Barber-shop, Forfeits in a : barber-shops 
were formerly places of popular resort ; 
and, in order to preserve order among 
the company, forfeits were inflicted. 
[Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, 

■ ri, ii (?x603)] 

Barber’s chair. As common as a ; which 
was proverbial for giving accommo- 
dation to anybody. 

Barber’s news, As true as : untrust- 
worthy. Barbers' shops have, since 


[Bark 

Roman times, been the centres of 
gossip and rumour. [Middleton, The 
Roaring Girle, III, iii (1611)] 

Bard of all times. The : William 
Shakespeare (1564-1616). 

Bard of Avon, The : William Shakes- 
peare (1564-1616), bom at Stratford- 
on-Avon. 

Bard of Ayrshire, The : Robert Bums 
(1759-96), born at AUoway in Ayrshire. 

Bard of Hope, The : Thomas Campbell 
(1777-1844), author of The Pleasures 
of Hope. 

Bard of the Imagination, The : Mark 
Akenside (1721-70), author of 
of the Imagination. 

Bard of Memory, The : Samuel Rogers 
(1763-1855), author of The Pleasures 
of Memory, 

Bard of Olney, The : William Cowper 
(1731-1800), who lived at Olney, Bucks. 

Bard of Prose, The : Giovanni Boccaccio 
(1313-75), author of The Decameron, 

Bard of Rydal Mount, The: William 
Wordsworth (1770-1850), who lived 
at Rydal Mount, near Grasmere. 

Bard of Twickenham, The : Alexander 
Pope (1688-1744), who lived at 
Twickenham, on the Thames. 

Bare as one’s nail. As : penniless. 
[FulweU, Like Will to Like (1568)] 

Bare Poles : a man at the end of^ his 
resources. From a sailing-vessel in a 
gale sailing nnder bare masts. 

Barebones Parliament : Cromwell’s 
* Little ParHament ' of 1653. After 
one of its prominent members, 
Praisegod Barebones (Barbon). 

Bargain, A wet : a bargain sealed by the 
parties to it drinking together. 

Bargain, Into the : in addition. [Dryden, 
Sir Martin Mavr-dll, II, i (1668)] 

Bargain, To make the of a bad : to 
reconcile oneself to ill-luck or mis- 
fortune and take whatever little 
advantage it may offer. 

Bargain, To sell a : to return a coarse 
answer. 

Bargain, To strike a : to come to an 
agreement, [Bp. Hall, Cases of 
Conscience ( 1 650)] . From the practice 
of striking or shaking hands on the 
conclusion of a bargain. 

Bargains for, More ihan one : more than 
one has expected. 

Bargain-penny : money in part payment 
when a bargain is made. 

Bargain-Saturday, A : a day appointed 
for the hiring of servants at fairs. 

Bark and flee, To : to hasten to mim 



Bark] 34 

Bark and the tree, To put the hand 
between the : to interfere in matters 
which do not concern one, esp. 
between hnsband and wife. [Lyly, 
Euphues and his England {isSo) ; 
John Heywood, Proveybes (1546)] 

Bark at the moon, To ; (i) to labour in 
vain ; (2) to speak ill of one’s superiors. 
[Poston Letters, No. 296 (1456)] 

Bark to be worse than the bite. The : 
said of a person prone to ill-speaking 
but not ill-doing. 

Bark up the wrong tree, To : to strive 
towards a mistaken object ; to adopt 
means unlikely to attain to the desired 
end. Based on an American racoon- 
hunting anecdote. 

Barker, A : a pistol ; which ‘ barks * 
when it is fired. 

Barker’s knee, As stiff as : after one 
Barker, who ra^shly declared that he 
did not believe in the existence of 
knockers (sprites that haunt the tin- 
mines of Cornwall). He was waylaid 
by knockers as a punishment and 
permanently injured. 

Barkis is willin’ : a phrase used to denote 
willingness to agree if asked to do so. 

It was the repeated message of Barkis, 
a character in Dickens, David Copper ^ 
field (1849), in offering marriage to 
Peggotty. 

Barkshire ; Ireland. From Bark, an 
Irishman. 

Barley-bree: strong ale. 

Barley in a brulzie, To cry ; to ask for a 
truce. The phrase is derived from 
children’s games in Scotland. 

Barley-cap, A : a tippler ; one into 
whose head barley-bree has risen. 

Barleycorn, John : (i) the personification 
of malt liquor; hence (2) an inn- 
keeper. From the song Sir John 
Barleycorn (1651), 

Barmecide, A : one who arouses one's 
expectations without satisfying them. 

Barmecide’s Feast ; an empty meal or 
illusory benefit. One of the Barme- 
cides (rulers of Bagdad) is said to have 
invited a beggar to a banquet, the 
dishes at which were without excep- 
tion empty when the covers were 
removed. \The Barbaras Sixth 
Brother m The Arabian ISIights'] 

Barmy : slightly insane. A corruption of 
St. Bartholomew, the Patron S aint of the 
insane. See also Balmy ; Balmy-stick. 

Bamaby thistle, A : a thistle which 
flowers about the nth of June, St. 
Barnabas' Day. 


[Bartholomew 

Bamaby-bright : St. Barnabas' Day, 
June nth, according the Old Style 
the longest day. 

Barnacle, A : (i) a species of Arctic 
goose ; (2) a shell-fish which attaches 
itself to the bottom of a ship or other 
object floating on the sea; hence (3) 
a person who attaches himself to 
another against his wish, or a man who 
clings to office although no longer 
serving a useful purpose. The 
bamacle-goose was popularly supposed, 
on account of the similarity of the 
name, to be produced out of the shell- 
fish. [Dekker' and Webster, Northward 
Ho, III, i (1607)] 

Barnacle Tite, A : an official steeped in 
forms and precedents and bound 
round with red tape. After a character 
in Dickens, Little Dorrit (1835). 

Barnburners, The : the Radical wing of 
the Democratic Party in New York in 
the middle of the 19th cent. Origin- 
ally the participants in the " Dorr 
Rebellion ” of 1842 who were accused 
of burning barns and other oflences. 

Barnstormer, A ; a second-rate travelling 
actor. Dates back to the time when 
travelling companies often gave their 
performances in bams. 

Bamumese : an exaggerated journalistic 
style. After Phineas Taylor Bamum 
(1810-91), American showman. 

Baron of Beef, A : the two sirloins 
joined by the end of the backbone. 

Barragouin : gibberish. Breton, bara, 
bread and gwenn, white. On account 
of the surprise expressed by Breton 
soldiers at seeing white bread. [Sir 
Thos. Overbury, Characters : A Meere 
Common Lawyer (1616)] 

Barratron (um) : see Barathron. 

Barren’s Blues : the King’s Own (Royal 
Lancaster) Regiment form, the 4th 
Foot. After William Barrel!, their 
colonel (1734-9), and the colour of 
their facings. 

Barrier Treaty, A : a treaty fixing 
national boundaries ; esp. the treaty 
of 1715 between Austria, Gt. Britain 
and the Netherlands, fixing the 
boundary between the first and third 
of these Powers. 

Barriers, To fight at : to fight within 
lists. [Lyly, Euphues and His 
England (1580)] 

Bartholomew Baby (doll), A : (i) a doll ; 
(2) an overdressed woman. From 
Bartholomew Fair at West Smithfield, 
at which these dolls were sold. 



BartholomewJ 35 

Bartholomew Pig, A : a fat person. 
After the roast pigs that were sold at 
Bartholomew Fair. 

Bartholomew, A Saint : a massacre 
of heretics or nonconformists to the 
prevalent faith. After the massacre 
of the French Huguenots which com- 
menced on St- Bartholomew's Day 
in 1572. 

Bartholomew’s Day : 24th August, the 
festival in honour of the Apostle 
Bartholomew. In England celebrated 
by a great fair at West Smithfield, 
from 1133 to 1855. 

Bartholomew 4 ide : Bartholomew’s Day. 

Bartolist, A ; a learned French lawyer. 
After Bartole (1313-56), an Italian 
jurist wdth a great reputation among 
French lawyers. 

Bas Bleu, A. {Fr,) : a Bluestocking (q.v.). 

Base, To bid a : to run away while 
encouraging pursuit. From the rustic 
game ' base ^ or ' prisoners'-base.' 

Bashaw, A Three-tailed {Arabic, pasha, 
a high official) : a Turkish Pasha of 
high rank, bearing three horse-tails on 
his standard. 

Bashi-Bazouk {Turk., one whose head 
is turned) : (i) a Turkish irregular 

soldier ; (2) a ruffian ; from the 
atrocities committed by Bashi- 
Bazouks. 

Basilisco, A : a braggart. After a 
character in Solyman and Perseda 

(1599). 

Basilisco-proof : shameless, unabashed. 
From the basilisco (basilisk), a 
fabulous reptile, whose mere look was 
fatal to the beholder. 

Baskerville, A : an edition of a book 
printed by John Baskerville (1706-75), 
a Birmingham printer. 

Basket, To be left in the : not to be 
selected ; like the worst of the apples. 

Basket to . . To give a : to refuse to 
marry. From the German practice of 
fixing a basket on the house of a 
rejected lover. 

Bason, To beat the : to attract 
attention to another's disgrace. From 
the practice of the mob in preceding 
a cart containing criminals and other 
bad characters and beating basins, 
etc., in order to attract a still larger 
crowd. 

Baste a person’s jacket, To : to thrash 
him. 

BastiUe, A : a State prison in which 
political prisoners are incarcerated. 
After the French State-prison, which 


[Battersea 

was attacked by the mob at the out- 
break of the French Revolution, In 
English use in 14th cent. 

Bastinado {Span., hastonada) : punish- 
ment of beating on the soles of the 
feet, practised by the Chinese, Turks, 
Persians, etc. 

Bat, Off one’s own i by one’s own sole 
exertions ; without assistance. A 
cricket metaphor. 

Bat, To carry one’s : to be still ‘ in,' 
i.e, undismissed, when the innings is 
brought to a conclusion ; to succeed 
in an undertaking by tiring out all 
opposition, A cricket metaphor. 

Bat, As warm as a : bat in South 
Staffordshire is that slaty coal which 
will not burn. 

Bat-fowling: swindling. [Dekker and 
Webster, Westward Ho, V, iii (1607)] 

Bate, Clean at the : at loggerheads. 
[R. Wever, Lusty Juventus, I, 480 
(c. 1560)] 

Bath I Go to : an exclamation of dis- 
missal addressed to people who behave 
foolishly. From the former practice 
of sending insane people to Bath for 
the benefit of their health. 

Bath, Order of the : a British Order of 
knighthood, derived from the cere- 
monial bath formerly taken before the 
conferment of the honour. Instituted 

1399. 

Bath of Blood, The : (i) the massacre of 
the Huguenots at Vassy in France, in 
1562, by order of the Duke of Guise ; 
(2) the massacre of seventy Swedish 
nobles, in 1520, by order of Christian II 
of Denmark. 

Bath, The King of : Richard Nash (Beau 
Nash) (1674-1761), for many years 
Master of Ceremonies at Bath and a 
typical * buck.' 

Bath, The Maid of : Miss Linley, who 
afterwards married Sheridan (1731- 
1816). 

Bathing to steal clothes. To catch : see 

Whigs. 

Batrachomyomachia {Grk., battle of the 
frogs and mice) : much excitement 
over a trivial matter. From the title 
of an early Greek mock-heroic poem. 

Battels : college-accounts, esp. for food. 
University of Oxford. 

Batter-fanged : beaten ; tom with the 
nails. [Taylor, Works (1630)] 

Battersea to he cut for the simples, To go 
to : addressed to a stupid persoru 
The London apprentices used formerly 
to make an excursion to Battersea to 



Baitie] 


36 


[Bay-leai 


see the medidnal herbs (simples) cut 
by the market-gazdeneis of the 
neighbourhood. 

Battle of the Books* A : a controversy 
between literary men. After the title 
of a satire by Swift (1697). 

Battle of SlowerSi A: an incident in 
many Carnivals, in which the partici- 
pants pelt one another with flowers. 
Bf^ of the Frogs and Mice: see 

Batrachomyomadbia. 

Battle of ilie Giants* The : the Battle of 
Maiignano (1515), between Francis I 
of Fiance aiid the Swiss under the 
Duke of Milan. Because on both sides 
there were mighty men of valour, who 
fought like giants. 

Battle, Balf the : the greater or more 
difficult part of an undertaking. 

Battle of the Nations* The: the Battle of 
I^pzig (Oct. 16-19, 1813), in which 
French, Prussians, Austrians, Russians, 
Swedes, Saxons, etc.* took part. 

Battle of the Three Emperois* The: 
Austerlitz (Dec. 2, i8o5h in which 
Napoleon, the Emperor ox Russia, and 
the Emperor of Austria took part. 

Battles over again, To fight one^s : to 
narrate one's ea^loits to an admiring 
circle. [Sophocles, Antigone, 11 . 1286-8] 

Battle row A : a free fight, in which 
more than two comba^ts are en- 
gaged. OziginaUy a cock- fighting term. 

BiStle, The British Soldfexs’ : the Ba^e 
of Inkennan (Nov. 5, 1854), in which, 
in consequence of the disorder, the 
soldiers had to fight for the most part 
derived of the leadership of their 
officers. 

BatUe-hom States The : Nevada, which 
was admitted into the Union in the 
midst of the American Gvil War. 

Battledore, To say Bee to a : sm Bee. 

Banbee : see Bawbee. 

Bauble, To deserve the : to act very 
foolishly. After the bauble, the 
of office of the professional 

fool. 

Bavins, A : an incompetent poet. From 
The Baoiad, a satire on the poetry of 
the Ddla Cmscan School (^.v.) by 
William Gifford (1756-1826). Also the 
name of two Roman poets who were 
immortalised on account of their bad 
verses by Virgil and Horace, xe^ec- 
tively. 

Bawbee^ A : a halfpenny. OxigmaBy a 
Scotch coin of the value of a halfpeimy. 
Probably derived from an early mint- 
master, the Laixd of Sillebawby. 


Bawoook, A : a good fellow. Possibly 
from Ft., beau coq, fine cock, or from 
boy and cock. [Shalcespeare, Henry V, 
III ii (1599)] 

Bawtry who was hanged for leaving his 
liguor* Like the saddler of : criminals on 
the way to execution were accustomed 
to stop at a tavern in York to partake 
of a parting draught. According to a 
Yorkshire proverb a saddler of Bawtry 
declined to do so and in consequence, 
failed to escape hanging. A short 
delay would have enabled his reprieve 
to arrive in time. 

Bay : fame and glory. From the wreath 
ai bay-leaves placed on the head of a 
victor. 

Bay Stat^ ThO': Massachusetts. After 
original name of the colony, 
Massachusetts Bay. 

Bay, To wear the : to be the redpient of 
honour, see Bay. 

Bays* The Queen’s : the 2nd Dragoon 
Guards. From the colour of their 
horses. 

Bayard, A : (i) a man of course and 
honour, ait^ the Chevalier de 
Bayard, * sans peur et sans reproche ' 
(X473-1524); (2) a valuable horse, 
aStir Bai^o, RinaJdo's horse, in 
Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516). 

Bayard, As bold as blind : of a person 
who acts hastily and without due 
consideration. [Langland, Piers 
Plowman (1362) ; Chaucer, Cawm*s 
Yeoman’s Tale, II (14th cen^] 
Bayard of the OonfiBderaie Army, The : 

Robert Lee (1807-70). 

Bayard in the stable. To keep • ^eep 
close raaid over one's valuables. 
[John Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Bayard of uie Ztest* The: Sir James 
Outram (1803-63). 

Bayard of mdia. The : Sir James Out- 
ram (1803-63), so-called by Sir Charles 
Napier. 

Bayard of ten toes, To ride: to goon foot. 

Bayard of the Indian Army* The : Sir 
James Outram (1803-63). 

Bayard of Nations, The : Poland. 

Bayard* The Biitfa^ : Sir Philip Sidney 

(1554-84)- 

Bayaa^ The FoUsih: Prince Joseph 
Poniatowski (1763-1814). 

Bayard’s bnn : bread given to horses. 
After Bayard, the horse. Su 
Bayard (2}. 

Bay-uaf eaw, A : a poet. See Bay, 
To wear the. [Dekk^ and Webster, 
Northward Ho, V, i (1607)] 



Bayonet] 37 

Bayonet, A : a blade attached to a rifle. 
From (i) Bayonne, in France, where 
bayonets were first made ; (2) Bayon- 
netta, in the Basque province, whose 
troops improvised them in the course 
of a battle in 1647. 

Bayou State, The : Mississippi. From 
the number of bayous or marshy 
creeks along its coast. 

Bayreuth Festival : the musical festival 
held annually at Bayreuth for the 
representation of Wagner’s operas. 

Bayreuth Hush : intense silence. From 
the silence that precedes the opening 
of a Wagner Festival at the Bayreuth 
Opera House. 

B.C., Marked with : dismissed from the 
Army with a ' bad character.” From 
the mark formerly set against a 
soldier’s record in such circumstances. 

Beachcomber, A ; in Australasia, a 
vagrant who lives on the sea-shore ; 
earlier, a European settler on one of 
the Pacific Islands ; still earlier, a 
pirate. 

Bead on . . , To draw a : to attack. 
Orig., to fire at, the foresight of many 
rifles being of the ” bead * pattern. 

Bead, To raise a : to bring to the point ; 
to assure success. Metaphor drawn 
from strong spirits which will not 
” raise a bead ’ unless of sufiflcient 
strength. 

Beads, St. Martin’s: see St. Martin’s 
Beads. 

Beads, To bid : to count tlie beads on a 
rosary. Originally, to say prayers. 

See Bead roll. 

Beads, To count one’s : to say one’s 
prayers. From the Roman Catholic 
practice of telling beads while at 
prayer. 

Beads, To pray without one’s : to lose 

, one’s bearings. 

Bead-folks : pensioners who offer prayers 
on behalf of their benefactors. See 
Bead-roll. [Inierlude of Calisio and 
Meliboea (1530)] 

Bead-roU, A : a list of persons ; origin- 
ally of persons to be prayed for. 
Saxon bead or bede, a prayer. 

Beadsman, A : one who prays for 
another ; a pensioner ; an inmate pf 
an almshouse. See Bead-roll. 

Beak, A : a magistrate. From the 
beag (gold collar) worn by that officer. 
Formerly the same word was used for 
a constable. 

Beam in one’s eye, To have a : to have a 
fault in one’s own character ignored 


[Beanfeast 

in one’s desire to discover a much 
smaller fault (a moie, speck) in an- 
other’s. [Cf. Matthew, vii, 3] 

Beam, To kick the : to be wholly out- 
weighed. Properly, of one scale of a 
balance being so lightly loaded that it 
flies up and strikes the beam of the 
balance. 

Beam-ends, To be thrown on one’s : to 
be reduced to one’s last resource. A 
nautical metaphor. 

Bean for . . , Not to care a : to hold as 
of next to no account. Owing to the 
small value of a bean. [1297] 

Bean in the cake, A : a means of choosing 
the king in Twelfth Day festivities. 

Bean in the cake. To find the : to gain 
an unexpected pri2e. 

Beans are in flower, The : a suggested 
explanation of a person’s stupidity. 
It was formerly believed that the scent 
of the flowering bean induced stupidity 
in the recipient of it. 

Beans, Full of : in good condition, like a 
horse fed on beans. 

Beans go to make five, To know how 
many : to be ment^y very alert, 

' wide-awake,* * up to snuff.” From 
the former practice of using beans 
when counting. 

Beans in a blue bladder, Three blue : one 
who talks much but displays little 
sense. Possibly from a j ester’s bladder 
ornamented with peas or beans. It 
has also been suggested that blue 
beans (small bullets) in a bladder make 
a great rattling noise without serving 
any useful purpose. 

Beans in the wind. To sow : to labour to 
no purpose. \The Marriage of Witt 
and Science (1569-70)] 

Beans, To abstain from: not to meddle in 
politics, * for in the old times the 
election of magistrates was made by 
the pulling of beans.” \See Lyly, 
Euphues (1579)] , , 

Beans, To give a person : to pumsh a 
person. From the French proverb, 
” If he gives me peas I will give him 
beans,” i.e., more punishment than he 
gives me. 

Bemifeast, A : an annual excursion pro- 
vided for workers by their employer, 
usually a festival of a somewhat 
vulgar character. A bean-goose used 
invariably to form one of the dishes at 
a beanfeast. Another origin is derived 
from Daniel Day, a Wapping pump- 
maker of the 18th cent., who on one 
day in the year used to offer all-comers 



Bear] 38 [Beat! 


a hearty meal of beans and bacon 
beneath the great oak at Fairlop, 
then a part of Epping Forest. 

Bear, A : a gruff, iU-tempered person, 
resembling in manners the quadruped. 

Bear and Bull (Stock Exchange terms) : 
the bear is one who speculates for a f sdl 
in prices ; the bull, for a rise. From 
the proverb of selling the skin of a bear 
before he is caught. [Jas. Puckle, 
The Club : Knave (1711)] 

Bear by the Tooth, To take a : to take 
foolhardy risks. [Martial, Epigrams, 
Bk. VII, II, 27-8] 

Bear State, The : Arkansas ; formerly 
noted for the number of its bears. 

Bear the bell, To : to be successful. From 
the now obsolete practice of awarding 
the bell to the victor in a race. 
[Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Bear the market, To ; to depress the 
value of shares for the purpose of 
buying them cheap. See Bear and Bull. 

Bear, The (Northern) : Russia. From 
its cognizance. 

Bear-garden, A : a place of disorder and 
strife. Orig., a place set apart for 
bear-baiting and other rough sports. 

Bear-garden, To speak : to use bad 
language ; in allusion to the language 
used at bear-baiting. 

Bear-leader, A : a tutor and companion 
of a hoy whose education and manners 
need polishing. 

Beard a person. To : to face and oppose 
a person openly. From the idea of 
seizing liim by the beard. [Shakes- 
peare, I Henry IV, IV, i (1596)] 

Beard ablaze. To put a person’s : to 
arouse a person's wrath. 

Beard on shoulder. To have a : to be 
listening with a view to overhearing. 

Beard the lion. To : see Beard, To ; to 
attack an esp. powerful opponent. 

Beard, To laugh at one’s : to endeavour 
to make a person ridiculous. 

Beard, To laugh in one’s : to laugh to 
oneself at having fooled a person. 

Beard, To make a person’s : to have a 
person at one's mercy. 

Beard, To put in a person’s : to charge 
a person with. [Poston Letters, No. 
483 (1464)] 

Beard, To inn in a person’s : to oppose 
a person to his face. 

Beards, To wag : to feast. [Life of 
Alexander (1312)] 

Bearded Master, The : Socrates (468- 
399 B.C.) ; so-called by Persius, the 
Roman poet. 


Beardsleyism^ A : a pictorial illustration 
in black-and-white in the style of 
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872-98). 

Bearings, To bring to : to bring a person 
to reason. A nautical metaphor. 

Bearings, To lose one’s : to become 
bewildered. A nautical metaphor. 

Bearings, To take one’s : to consider the 
position in which one finds oneself. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Bdamais, The : Henri IV of France. 
From Beam, the province in which 
he was bom. 

Beast, The : the Roman Catholic Church; 
the Anti-Christ in the Apocalypse of 
St. John. 

Beast, The mark of the : see Mark. 

Beast, The number of the ; see Apocalyp- 
tic Number. 

Beat a retreat. To : to withdraw from a 
situation. A military metaphor. 

Beat about the bush. To : to approach 
a subject with hesitation, and apparent 
desire to avoid* the main issue. A 
sporting metaphor. [Robert Whitting- 
ton, Vulgaria, i (1520)] 

Beat the air. To : to strive or work use- 
lessly. A pugilistic metaphor. 
[J Corinthians, ix, 26 ; Bacon, 
Essayes : Of Despatch (1625)] 

Beat the bounds. To : to trace the bounds 
of a parish by beating the landmarks 
with willow wands on Ascension Day, 
an old custom. 

Beat the dog before the lion. To : to 

punish a person of lesser degree in the 
presence of and in order to intimidate 
one of greater. From the French 
proverb, * Battre le chien devant le 
lion.' [Chaucer, Squire* s Tale, Pt II 
(?I393)] 

Beat the Dutch, To : see Dutch, To beat 
the. 

Beat a person with his own staff (rod). 
To : to refute a person out of his own 
mouth. [Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Beat the record. To : to exceed all fore- 
runners. [Prjmne, Histrio-Mastix 

(1599)] 

Beat the same ivy hush. To : to make the 
same boasts ; to play the same game, 
as another. [Dekker, The GulVs 
Hornbook, ch. 7 (1609)] 

Beaten gold and ivory. To be all : to be 
super-excellent. 

Beaten track. The : the conventional 
course. 

Beat! possidentes {Lat., Happy are those 
in possession) : a contraction of the 
leg^ phrase Beati in jure consentnmtur 



Beau] 

possidentes. It is generally agreed that 
those in possession are happy in law. 
The phrase was applied by Bismarck 
to the Christian provinces of Turkey, 
esp. Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the 
Russo-Turkish War. 

Beau, A {Fr., handsome) : a dandy ; a 
man who devotes special attention to 
his attire ; a male lover. [In English 
use in 14th cent.] 

Beau Brummel, A : a dandy. After 
George Bryan (1778-1840), (Beau 
Brummel), the greatest of the dandies 
and the leader of fashion in his day. 

Beau ideal, The {Fr., the ideally beauti- 
ful) : the highest type of excellence. 

Beau monde {Fr., beautiful world) : the 
fashionable world. [Wycherley, 
Gentleman Dancing-master (1659)] 

Beau Nash : Richard Nash (1674-1761), 

‘ The King of Bath,' an English leader 
of fashion in his day. 

Beau Sabreur, Le {Fr., the Handsome 
Swordsman) : Joachim Murat, one of 
Napoleon's marshals and afterwards 
King of Naples (1767-1815), famous as 
a cavalry leader. 

Beauchamp, As bold as : from the 
proverbial bravery of the Beauchamps, 
Earls of Warwick ; or from that of 
Thomas, the first earl in particular, 
who in 1346 with the assistance of a 
squire and six archers defeated a hun- 
dred Normans. A play. The Three Bold 
Beauchamps, was published about 1610 
and Bold Beauchamp was the title of 
one of the lost plays of Thos. Heywood 
(d. 1650). 

Beauclerc : Henry I of England. In 
acknowledgment of his scholarship. 

Beaumontague literary padding ; 
hack-work. From Emile Beaumont 
(1798-1851), geologist, and Germ., 
Teig, dough. 

Beaut6 du Diable {Fr., beauty of the 
Devil) : a type of beauty that indicates 
ill-health or disease. 

Beautiful Parricide, The : Beatrice Cenci 
(d. 1 599), who is said to have justifiably 
murdered her father. 

Beauty and the Beast : a couple of whom 
the woman is beautiful and the man 
ugly. After the title of Mme. Ville- 
neuve’s fairy tale (1740). 

Beauty-sleep : sleep obtained before mid- 
night, the most healthy period. 

Beauty-spot, A : a patch placed on the 
face of a lady to act as a foil to her 
complexion. 

Beaux esprits ; plural of Bel esprit {q.v.). 


39 [Bedlamite 

Beaux yeux {Fr., beautiful eyes) : 
attractive 'looks,' appearance. 

B6chamel : a white sauce used in 
cookery. After the French inventor, 
the Marquis de B6chamel (d. 1703), 
steward to Louis XIV. 

Beck and call. To be at a person’s : to 
be within his absolute control, to have 
to dance attendance on him. 

Becky Sharp, A : an unscrupulous, 
worldly young woman. After a 
character in Thackeray, Vanity Fair 

(1847)- 

Bed and board : full connubial relations. 
[York Manual (1403)] 

Bed of down, A : an easy, pleasant 
situation. [Shakespeare, Othello, I, 
iii (?i6o4) ; Sir Thos. Wyatt, How to 
Use the Court (1557)] 

Bed of Justice : a meeting of the French 
Parliament under the presidency of 
the king. From the pile of cushions 
which originally formed the royal 
seat. 

Bed of roses, A ; a pleasant situation. 

Bed of thorns, A : an unpleasant situ- 
ation. [Thos. Watson, Aurora Now 
Began to Rise Again (1593)] 

Bed the wrong side (with the left foot or 
leg foremost), To get out of : to be in 
a bad temper. From the superstition 
that it is unlucky to put the left foot 
first to the ground on getting out of 
bed. [John Still, Gammer Gurton^s 
Needle, II, i (1566)] 

Bed-post, Between you and me and the : 

between ourselves, to the exclusion of 
others ; strictly, privately. 

Bed-post, In the twmkling of a : instan- 
taneously. Previously, ' in the 
twinkling of a bedstafi.' The bedstafi 
was used to keep the clothes on the 
bed, and also served as a substitute 
for a rapier in fencing. [Colman, 
Heir at Law (1808)] 

Bed-rock : the ultimate basis ; the end 
of one's resources. A mining metaphor. 

Bedfordshire, To go to : to go to bed. 
A pun. 

Bedlam, A : a lunatic-asylum ; an 
uproar. After the Hospital of St. 
Mary of Bethlehem (Bedlam) in 
London, a lunatic-asylum. 

Bedlam beggars : discharged incom- 
pletely-cured inmates of Bethlehem 
(Bedlam) Hospital, licensed to beg in 
the streets from passers-by. 

Bedlam, Bess 0’ : see Tom o' Bedlam. 

Bedlamite, A ; one who is, or ought to 
be^ an inmate of a lunatic-asylum, 



Bee] 40 


Bee, A SpeUing : a party engaged in a 
spelling-game. Bee in the (Amer.) 
sense of a gathering of people, a 
* swarm ' of bees. See Swarm. 

Bee in one’s bonnet, To have a : to 
have a craze on some definite subject ; 
to be slightly unhinged in mind ; to 
be of a choleric disposition. See 
Bees in the head. 

Bee of Athens (Attica], The ; The 
Athenian (Attic) Bee : (i) Plato 

(c. 427-347 B.C.), a native of Athens, 
in allusion to the sweetness of his 
style ; (2) Sophocles (496-405 B.C.), a 
native of Athens ; (3) Xenophon 

(444-350 B.C.) 

Bee of BTymftttufl, The : see Bee of Athens. 

Bee to a battledore, To say : to have at 
least an elementary Imowledge. A 
battledore was a cardboard book used 
for teaching young children in the 
earlier half of the 19th cent. 

Bee-line, In a : direct ; following the 
straight line which a bee is routed to 
take when returning home. Of Amer. 
origin. 

Bees, In the : confused. 

Bees in the head, To luve : to be of a 
choleric disposition, t.e., to have that 
in the head which is easily provoked. 
[Gawin Douglas, JEneis, VIII (1512)] 

Bees of Hybla : see Hybla. 

Beef nor brose of mine, Neither: no 
concern of mine. Brose is, in Scot- 
land, a porridge made by pouring 
boiling water over oatmeal. 

Beefeater, A : a yeoman of the guard. 
From bufieter, in the sense of a menial 
servant, or the beefeater, a bird whose 
strong tibick bill bore some resemblance 
to their arms. 

Bedzebub : the Devil. From the name 
of the God of Flies, one of the heathen 
gods mentioned in II Kings, In 
IkClton, Payadise Lost, it is the name 
of one of the fallen angels. 

Be^bub to cast out Satan, To call in : to 
employ one evil to neutralize another. 

Beer and Bible : the Conservative Party 
(according to their opponents) from 
1873 onwards. In that year the party 
which had always included a number 
of religious leaders, received an 
accession of strength from the brewing 
interest, which took serious objection 
to legislation proposed by the Liberal 
Government. 

Beer and i^tttes : all that one could 
desire; the height of pleasure. A 
public-house metaphor. 


Beer, To chronicle small: to write or 
talk about trivialities. [Peter Pindar, 
The Remonstrance : Ode to My Ass 
(1791) ; Shakespeare, Othello, II, i, 
(?i6o4)] 

Beer of . . To tfiink small : to have a 
poor opinion of . . Small beer is weak 
beer. [Shakespeare, Othello, II, i 
(^ 1604 )] 

Beer-money : money paid to a servant 
in lieu of an allowance of beer ; a tip. 

Beerage, The: the brewer-pe^. An 
artificial word modelled on "peerage.’ 

Beerocracy : the class of wealthy 
brewers. An artificial word modeled 
on ‘aristocracy.' 

Beersheba, Dan to : see Dan. 

Beetle, As quick as a : very slow. 

Beetle-browed: having heavy, dark 
eyebrows. An allusion to the insect. 
[14th cent.] 

Beetle-crusher, A : a large, flat foot. 
[First used in Punch by John Leech.] 

Befana, The : in Ital. folklore, a sort of 
combination of the Wandering Jew 
and Santa Claus. An old woman who 
was too busily employed in domestic 
work to go to the window to see the 
Three Wise Men of the East pass on 
their way to greet the Infant Jesus, 
and has been awaiting their return 
ever since. On Twelfth Night she 
acts as a sort of Santa Claus. A 
corruption of Epiphany (Twelfth 
Night). 

Before lights : on the stage. A 
theatrical phrase. 

Before the mast. To serve : to be a 
member of the ordinary ^ crew of a 
vessel whose quarters are in the fore- 
castle, before the mast. 

Beg : a Turkish governor ; a bey. 

Beg the question, To : to assume the 
conclusion without proving it. The 
phrase in its Grk. equivalent was first 
used by Aristotle. 

Begbie murder, A : an unsolved mystery 
or problem. After the mysterious 
murder and robbery of William Begbie, 
a bank manager, in Edinburgh, on the 
13th Nov., 1806. 

Beggar description. To : to exhaust the 
powers of description. [Shakespeare, 
Anthony and Cleopatra, II, ii (?i6o6)] 

Beggar on horseback, A : an upstart ; a 
person suddenly raised in social status 
and rendered giddy by his promotion. 
From the Germ, proverb, ' Set^ a 
beggar on horseback and he’U outride 
the Devil' [Burton, Anatomy of 



Beggar] 41 

Melancholy, Pt. II, Sect. II, Memb. 2 : 

* Set a beggar on horseback and he 
will ride a gallop * (1621)] 

Beggar to his dish. As tme to one as the : 
From the clap«dish, the beggar’s 
receptacle for alms. 

Beggar’s brown : Scotch snuff. 

Beggars’ Bush, To go by : to proceed to 
ruin. The Beggars’ Bush was a tree 
on the road between Huntingdon and 
Caxton, which formed a rendezvous 
for beggars. [Robert Greene, Quip 
for an Upstart Courtier (1592)] 

Beggars of the Sea : Dutch privateers 
who preyed on Span, commerce in the 
latter part of the i6th cent. 

Beggars, The Wild : Dutch revolutionary 
brigands active in the latter half of 
the 1 6th cent. 

Beghard, A : a member of a lay religious 
Order ; from Lambert de i^gue 
(d. 1187), the founder, a priest of 
Li^ge. See Beguine. 

Begonia : a species of ornamental plant ; 
from Michel Begon (1638-1710). 

Beguine, A : a female member of a 
continental lay Order; see Beghard. 

Bejan : a freshman. From Fr„ bee 
jaune, a yellow-beak, a young bird. 
Scot, and Fr. Universities, 

Bel Anglais, Le (Fr., the handsome 
Englishman) : the Duke of Marl- 
borough (1650-1722). 

Bel esprit, A (Fr., a fine spirit) : a man 
of brilliant intellect; a wit. 

Bel’s two fires. Between : between 
alternate difficulties. In allusion to 
the two fires kindled in Irish villages 
on the eve of the ist of May between 
which all devoted to sacrifice had to 
pass. 

Belcher, A : a neckerchief with white 
or coloured spots. After J ames Belcher 
(1781-181 1), Eng. pugilist, by whom a 
neckerchief consisting of white spots 
on a dark-blue ground was introduced. 

Bdial, A son (man) of : an evil man. 

A Biblical phrase denoting a son of 
evil. The name Belial was given by 
Milton in Paradise Lost to one of the 
fallen angels. [II Samuel, xvi, 7] 

Bdisarius, A : a great general, hero of 
his army. After the Roman General 
of that name (c. 505-65). 

Belisaiius, To play : to act the beggar. 
From the Latin proverb, ’ Date oholum 
Belisario * (Give an obolus or small 
coin to Belisarius). Belisarius (c. 505- 
65), Commander-in-Chief of the army 
in the East under Justinian, being 


[Bells 

accused of conspiracy, forfeited his 
rank and fortune. According to a 
doubtful tradition he lost also his 
sight and was reduced to beggary, so 
that he had to beg for pennies at the 
gate of Rome. 

B^ Book and Candle, To curse by : a 

form of excommunication in the 
Roman Catholic Church. The Bell 
called the attention of the public to 
the forthcoming announcement ; the 
Book contained the sentence that was 
pronounced; the Candle was extin- 
guished to S5mabolize the spiritual 
darkness of the object of the curse. 
The concluding lines of the formula 
were: * Cursed be they from the 
crown of the head to the sole of the 
foot. Out be they taken from the 
Book of Life (at this point the priest 
closed the book), and as this candle is 
cast from the sight of men, so be their 
souls cast from the sight of God into 
the deepest pit of hell (at this point 
a lighted candle is cast to the ground). 
Amen.* Then the bells were rung in 
discord to signify the passing of the 
souls of the excommunicated persons 
out of grace. 

Bell the cat, To : to undertake a danger- 
ous task. From La Fontaine's fable 
of the mice appointing one of them- 
selves to put a bell on the cat. The 
phrase was coined by the 5th Earl of 
Angus (c. 1449-15 14) when in a com- 
pany of Scot, nobles he offered to face 
their common enemy, the Earl of Mar. 
[Heywood, Proverhes (i 546)] 

B^, The Passing : a church-bell tolled 
to announce a death. Orig. the bell 
that was rung when a person was d5dng 
in order to scare away the evil spirits 
that were supposed to be waiting for his 
soul. It also served the purpose of sum- 
moning all good Christians to pray for 
the admission of his soul into paradise. 

Bell, To bear the : see Bear. 

Bell, To lose the : to be defeated. From 
the medieval practice of presenting a 
bell as a prize to the victor in a race. 

Bells and let her fly. To give the : to 
make the best of a misfortune and not 
to attempt hopelessly to reverse it. 
A hawking metaphor. When a hawk 
was worthless the bells were taken ofi 
and it was allowed to escape. 

Bells backwards. To ring the : to ring a 
muffled peal as a sign of mourning. 
In earlier times the bells were rung 
backwards to sound the alarm. 



Bells] 42 

Bells on one horse, To have all one’s : to 

leave all of one’s property to one 
child. 

Bell-wavering : inconstancy (Scottish). 

Bellarmine, A : a jug with the face of a 
man on it made at Cologne, After 
Card. Robert Bellannino, the opponent 
of the Protestants (1542-1621). 

Belle, A (Fy., beautiful) : a good-looking 
young woman, esp. one who dresses to 
enhance her charms. 

BeUe of the ball. The : the centre of 
attraction at a dance. 

Belle Passion, La (F?'., the beautiful pais- 
sion) : passionate love. 

Bellerophon, Letters of : documents 
which are a source of danger to those 
who hold them. From the letter sent 
with Bellerophon to the King of Lycia 
ordering the latter to have the bearer 
put to death. 

Belles Lettres (F#'., fine literature) : 
literature in which regard to style is 
given prominent consideration. 

B^bone, A : a good-looking girl. A 
corruption of belle et bonne. [Spenser, 
Shepherd* s Calendar (1579)] 

Bellona’s handmaids : blood, fire and 
famine. Bellona was the Roman 
Goddess of War. 

Belly god, A : a glutton ; one who 
worships his belly. 

Belt^'-cheer ; provisions. [Eliote's Die- 
tionarie (1559)] 

Belly-piece, A : an apron ; hence, a 
woman. [Shadwell, Bury Fair (1689); 
Randolph, Jealous Lovers (1646)] 

Belly-timber : provisions. ]Terence in 
English (1614)] 

Beloved Disciple, The : St. John. [John, 
xiii, 23 et seq."] 

Beloved Physician, The : St. Luke. 

Below par ; not in the best of health or 
condition. A metaphor drawn from 
the money-market with reference to 
securities below their nominal value 
(pax). 

Below stairs : among the servants. 

Belt, To hit below the : to act unfairly ; 
from the language of the prize-ring. 

Belt, To hold the : to champion ; to 
support. A pugilistic metaphor. 

Beltane : May-day (in Scotland) ; June 
2 (in Ireland). A festival celebrated 
by the extin^ishing of all domestic 
fires and the lighting of bonfires, from 
which the domestic fires are re-kindled. 
Apparently a heathen survival from 
the period of fire-worship. 

Ben, Big ; see Big Ben, 


[Benjamin 

Ben trovato (ItaL, well found) : well in- 
vented. The phrase is derived from 
the remark Se non d vero, i hen trovato 
(If it is not true, it is certainly well 
invented), attrib. to Hippolito, Card. 
d'Este (1479-1520), patron of learning, 
on the occasion of the dedication to 
him by Ariosto of his Orlando Furioso 
(1516). 

Bench and bar : the body of judges and 
barristers. From the bench on which 
the former sit, and the bar that used 
to separate the latter from the public 
in Court. 

Bench-whistler, A : an idler ; a loafer ; 
one who sits whistling on a bench. 

Bend, Above one’s : beyond one’s power 
or capacity. In allusion to the bend- 
ing power of a bow which, if exceeded, 
leads to a break. 

Bend, The Grecian : see Grecian. 

Bend Sinister, To have a : to be of 
ille^timate birth. An allusion to the 
device in a coat of arms supposed to 
indicate bastardy. 

Bendigo, A : a fur cap, similar to that 
worn by William Thompson (1811-80), 
Eng. pugilist, bom at Bendigo, 
Australia. 

Benedicite (Lot., bless ye] : a very brief 
grace before a meal ; invocation of a 
blessing. 

Benedick, A : a newly-married man. 
After a character in Shakespeare, 
Much Ado About Nothing (1599). 

Benedict, A : a bachelor. After St. 
Benedict, patron of celibates. 

Benedictine : a liqueur, formerly made 
by the Benedictine monks at Fecamp, 
France. 

Benefit of Clergy : exemption of the 
clergy, and at one time of all who could 
read, from criminal proceedings before 
a secular Court. 

Benevolence, A : a tax arbitrarily in- 
flicted by the king. Introduced by 
Edward IV in 1473, as a suggested 
proof of loyalty to the king. 

Bengal stripes : striped gingham. From 
Bengal, India, whence the material was 
exported in the 17th and i8th cents. 

Bengal Tigers : the Leicester Regt. or 
17th Foot, who, after approved service 
in India (1802-23) were given a tiger 
a.s a badge. 

Benjamin : aromatic resin. A corrup- 
tion of benzoin. 

Benjamin, A : (i) a dark-blue or black 
long jacket, fitting close to the figure, 
after one Benjamin, a sailors’ tailor 



Benjamin s] 43 [Bethel 


at Portsmouth, its inventor; (2) a 
favourite son ; the youngest son. 
After the youngest son of Jacob. 

Benjamin’s mess : the largest share. 
[Genesis, xliii, 34 : ‘ Benjamin’s mess 
was five times so much as any of 
theirs’] 

Bennett, To receive : to be tonsured as 
a priest. [Poston Letters, No, 286 

(1479)] 

Bent, Out of one’s : beyond one’s powers. 

Bent, To the top of one’s : as far as it is 
possible for one to go, as far as the 
bow can be bent without breaking. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, ii (1602)] 

Bent, To take the : to take the flight. 

Bent with Robin Bruce, To take the : to 
take to the open country ; to provide 
for one’s safety. 

Benton’s mint drops : gold coins of the 
U.S., esp. the smaller ones. After 
Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), 
mainly through whose influence in 
Congress gold became relatively 
common as currency. 

Bergman, A : a great liar. From Anti- 
phanes of Berga, Grk. fabulist. 

Bergaize, To : to tell incredible stories. 

Bergamot, A : a species of orange ; the 
perfume obtained therefrom ; a coarse 
tapestry. From Bergamo, a town in 
Italy; or from Turk., beg~armudi, 
prince’s pear. 

Bergen-op-zoom, A : a dunce, a person 
impermeable to impressions derived 
from reading. From the successful 
defence of the Dutch town of that 
name against all attacks in 1588, 1605,- 
1622 and 1814. [De Quincey (1785- 
1859), Collected Writings, iii, 93] 

Berlhi, A : a closed carriage with a seat 
and a hood behind. - After the capital 
of Germany. 

Berlin wool : a wool used for fancywork. 
After the capital of Germany. 

Bermudas : a tobacco. After the 
Bermuda Isles in the North Atlantic, 
whence the tobacco was orig. obtained. 

B ermudas, To live in: to live in hiding. 
After Bermudas, a term applied to the 
alleys and courts in the neighbourhood 
of Covent Garden, London, in the early 
17th cent., where debtors and others 
who wished to conceal themselves hid. 
The name was derived from the 
Bermuda Isles, in which those who 
wished to defraud their creditors settled. 

Bemesgue poetry : serio-comic poetry. 
From Francesco Bemi (1490-1536), 
ItaL poet. 


Berserk rage : the martial frenzy of a 
soldier on the battlefield. 

Berserker, A : a reckless hero ; a Viking 
hero. From the Scand. m3rfchological 
hero, Berserk, who fought without 
armour. Icelandic, herserkr, beax-skin. 

Berth, A good (bad) : a comfortable 
(uncomfortable) office or emplo57ment. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Berth to . . To give a wide : to avoid. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Bertillonism : anthropometry. From 
Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914), French 
inventor of identification by measure- 
ment. 

Bertolde, Imperturbable as : very im- 
perturbable. After a character in a 
piece by J. Cesare Croce. 

Berwick to Land’s End, From : from one 
extreme limit to the other. Berwick- 
on-Tweed and Land’s End mark the 
extremes of the kingdom of England. 

Besant : see Bezant. 

Besom, To hang out the : to enjoy one- 
self in the absence of one’s wife. A 
besom, originally a birch, now 
means a broom. 

Besom, To jump the : to live together 
as man and wife, without being 
married. 

Besonio ; Besognio : see Bezonian. 

Bespeak, A : a benefit-night at the 
theatre, when the play is chosen or 
bespoken by the person to benefit or 
by his friends. 

Bessemer steel : steel made by the 
Bessemer process. After Sir Henry 
Bessemer (1813-98), the inventor. 

Bess of Bedlam, A : a female vagrant 
lunatic. See Bedlam. There is an 
old chap-book entitled * Bess of 
Bedlam’s Garland.’ 

Best leg foremost. To put one’s : see Leg. 

Best of the matter, To make the : to face 
disappointment or misfortune courage- 
ously and take whatever slight benefit 
it may still offer. [Wm. Combe, 
Tour of Dr, Syntax in Search of the 
Picturesque, Canto xxvi (1812)] 

BSte noire (Fr., black beast) : a cause of 
annoyance. Apparently from a black 
sheep in a flock, always of less value 
than a white one and at times an 
object of superstitious aversion. 

Bethel, A : a dissenting chapel ; in the 
U.S . a chapel for seamen. After Be^el, 
the House of God, a place-name ‘ and 
sanctuary in Biblical Palestine. 

Bethel, A calf of : a Roman Catholic 
priest. 



Beth^] 44 

Bethel, A Little : a nonconformist place 
of worship. 

Betonica ; Betony : a dye and a 
medicine, and the plant from which 
they are obtained. From the V etones, 
a people of Spain, who are supposed to 
have discovered the plant. 

Better days, To have seen : to be reduced 
in fortune. [Shakespeare, As Yon 
Like It, II, vii, 1. 113 (1601) ; Timon 
of Athens, IV, ii, 1. 27 (1607)] 

Better, for worse, For: in all circum- 
stances and conditions. A phrase 
employed in the Anglican marriage- 
service. [Appius and Virginia, 1. 308 

(1563)] 

Better tban one’s word, To be : to 

exceed one*s promise. 

Better-half, The : a wife, man and wife 
being theoretically one. Originally 
applied to a close friend. [Sidney, 
Arcadia, Bk. Ill, 1. 280 (1580)]. The 
idea is anticipated in an oriental story 
of a Bedouin whose wife pleaded for 
liim in the following words : ' O great 
Prince . . . the blasphemy is horrible, 

I confess . . . but it is not my whole 
husband who has thus rendered him- 
self guilty towards thee.' ' Not thy 
whole husband ? * ' Nay,' she con- 
tinued, ' it is but the half of him that has 
committed the insult ; for am I not the 
other half — I who have never offended 
thee ? Now the guilty half places itself 
under the protection of the innocent half 
and the latter cannot suffer the former 
to be punished.' {Percy Anecdotes), 

Better of a matter. To think : to revise 
one's opinion of a matter. 

Better of . « To get the : to get the 
advantage of . . 

Better off : in more comfortable circum- 
stances. 

Better oneself, To : to improve one's 
circumstances. [fFhe Return from 
Parnassus, V, iii (1606)] 

Better self, One^s : one's husband or 
wife. Qohn Cooke, Greeners Tu 
Quoque, I, 1430 (1614)] 

Better than one should be. To be no : 
(said of a woman) ; to be of doubtful 
virtue or reputation. [Beaumont 
and Fletcher, The Coxcomb, IV, iii 
(c. 1610)] 

Betters, One’s : one’s social superiors. 
IXayamon, 3749 (1205)] 

Betterment : increase in value of land 
and house-property as a consequence 
of public improvements. [First used 
in this sense in the U.S.] 


[Bickerstal! 

Betty, A : a man who engages in female 
pursuits. 

Between ourselves (you and me) : speak- 
ing confidentially. [Foote, 2'he 
Author, I, i (1757) ; Goldsmith, The 
Goodnatured Man, IV, i (1768)] 
Between you and me and the bed (gate) 
post : speaking confidentially. [Peter 
Pindar, Peter’s Pension (178-)] 

Beulah, The Land of : see Land. 

Bever : drink ; drinking time ; a light 
meal between breakfast and dinner. 
Old Fr., beivre, to drink. 

Bezant ; Byzant, A : a gold coin, of 
varying value, of the Eastern Empire, 
and also of Europe until the 14th 
cent. From Byzantium, the capital 
of the Eastern Empire. 

Bezoar stone, A : a supposed antidote 
for poison. Bezoar stones are the 
round, hard concretions formed in the 
intestines of wild goats of masses of 
hair swallowed by them. 

Bezonian, A : a young untrained soldier ; 
a needy person. From Ital. bisogno, 
want. Applied first to badly clad and 
accoutred Span, soldiers who landed 
in Italy. [Middleton, Blunt Master 
Constable (1602)] 

Bezonian? under which king,: make 
your choice of sides. [Shakespeare, 
2 Henry IV, V, iii (1597-8)] 

Bianchi and Neri {Ital., whites and 
blacks) : supporters of the House of 
Savoy and the Papal Temporal 
claims, respectively. The names of 
two factions in the Guelph Party. 

Bible oath, A : an oath sworn upon the 
Bible. 

Bible of . • The : that which one holds 
sacred and swears by. 

Bible-backed : round-shouldered, like 
one much given to reading. 

Bible-clerk, A : a scholar at Oxford who 
reads lessons in chapel. 

Bibliolatry : a superstitious worship of 
the Bible ; worship of books. In- 
vented by S. T. Coleridge (1772-1834^ 

Biblion abiblion {Grk., a book that is 
not a book) : ' Literature ' of the 
character of directories, railway-guides, 
etc., which possess no quality of books 
except in their appearance. The word 
was invented by Charles Lamb (1775- 

1834)- 

Bibulus, A : a cipher in office. After 
the colleague of Julius Csesar. 

Bickerstaff, Isaac : a name assumed by 
Jonathan Swift in his controversy 
with Partridge, the almanac-maker; 



Bid] 45 

adopted by Sir Richard Steele as his 
nom-de-plume in The Tatlev (1709) ; 
and later by Benjamin West in his 
Boston Almanac, 

Bid beads, To : to say prayers. See 
Beadsman, and Bidding Prayer. 

Bid-ale, A : a benefit-entertainment for 
which a general invitation is issued. 
From bid, to invite, and ale, a festival. 

Bidding-prayer, A : a prayer, esp. one 
for the repose of souls. Lit., a praying 
prayer, or perhaps one that the congre- 
gation is bidden to utter. See Beads- 
man. 

Biddy (Bridget), A : a maid-servant, esp. 
in the U.S. where at one time most of 
the domestic servants were Irish. 

Bideford Postman, The : Edward Capem 
(1819-94), postman and poet. 

Bidet, A (Fr,t bidet, pony) : a post-horse, 
or small horse. 

Bidri ; Bidree ; Biddry : a kind of 
damascening in metals. After Bidri, 
a city in the Deccan, India. 

Bien-Aim6, Le {Fr,, the well-beloved) : 
Louis XV of France (1710-74). 

Bien venu {Fr.) : welcome. Now almost 
obsolete in England. 

Bienseance {Fr.) : proper behaviour. 
Now almost obsolete in England. 

Bierbalk, A : the road by which a corpse 
has been carried to the churchyard, 
which was at one time popularly 
supposed to grant thereby a permanent 
right of way to the public. 

Bierway, A : (in East Anglia), a bier- 
balk {q.v.). 

Big as a bee’s knee. As : of infinitesmally 
small size. ^ 

Big Beggarman, The : Daniel O'Connell 
(1775-1847), A nickname given to 
him by the Irish landlords. 

Big Ben : the great bell in the clock- 
tower at Westminster. From Sir 
Benjamin Hall (1802-67), who was 
First Commissioner of Works when 
the bell was hung. 

Big Bend State : Tennessee, which in one 
of the Indian languages is * River of 
the Big Bend.' 

Big bird. To get the : to be hissed off 
the stage. Theatrical slang. 

Big Bo : a hobgoblin. 

Big Gooseberry Season : the period after 
Parliament has risen when, in conse- 
quence of lack of news, the newspapers 
devote undue attention to topics such 
as the growth of giant gooseberries, 
the appearance of the sea-serpent, 
etc. 


[Billingsgate 

Big as a pin’s head. As : very small. 
[J. Still, Gammer GurtorCs Needle, I, v 
(1566)] 

Big for one’s shoes. To get too : to have 
become very conceited ; to ‘ have a 
swollen head.' 

Big gun, A : a person of consequence. 

Big Pot, A : a person of consequence. 

Big, To speak (talk) : to boast. 

Big-wig, A ; -an important of&cial. A 
wig of large size was formerly worn by 
men of high rank or importance. 
[Ned Ward, The English Spy (1703)] 

Biggin, A : a pot for making and serving 
coffee. After the name of the inventor 
who lived in the 1 8th- 19th cents. 

Biggin ; Biggen, A : a child's cap ; a 
night-cap. From Beguine {q.v.). 

Bighes, To be in the : to be in an excel- 
lent humour. From bighes, women's 
ornaments. 

Bike, A : a corrupt contraction of 
bicycle. 

Bilbo, A : a sword of a fine temper. 
From Bilbao in Spain, where such 
swords were first made. 

Bilboes : the irons used as manacles for 
sailors. From (i) Bilbao in Spain, 
where they were made; or (2) the 
Bilboes, the windings of a river in 
Spain. 

Bile, To rouse (stir) the : to enrage. The 
ancient view was that an excited bile 
caused anger. 

Bilk, To: to cheat (esp. cabmen). A 
corruption of * balk.' [Ben Jonson, 
The Tale of a Tub, I, i (1633)] 

Bill and coo. To : to make love ; to 
show signs of mutual affection, like 
turtle-doves. [Dryden, Amphitryon, 
I, ii (1690)] 

Bill, A true : a prima facie case against 
a person. Legal term. 

Billet h La OhStre, A : a broken promise ; 
a promise to be broken. From the 
remark made by Ninon L'Enclos 
{1615-1705), Fr, wit and beauty, when, 
in the absence of the Marquis de la 
Chitre, she took to herself another 
lover: * Ah, le bon billet qu*a La 
Chdtre ! * (* Ah, the fine promise I 
made to La Ch§,tre !). 

Billet-doux, A {Fr., sweet little letter) : 
a love-letter. [Vanbrugh, The Pro- 
voked Wife, rV, iv (1697)] 

Billingsgate : foul language. From the 
fish-market at Billingsgate, notorious 

. for the bad language in common use 
there. [Wycherley, The Plain Dealer, 
III (1677)] 



Billingsgate] 46 

Billingsgate pheasant, A : a red herring. 
From the fish-market at Billingsgate. 

Billy Barlow, A : half-witted street fool. 
After a character in the East End of 
London (d. 1851), 

Billycock (hat), A : a hard round felt 
hat. Formerly * bully-cocked/ i.e,, 
cocked like a street bully. Another 
derivation is from William Coke of 
Holkham (1752-1842) who is said to 
have introduced them at his great 
shooting parties. 

Bingham’s Dandies : the 17th Lancers. 
After one of their colonels. Lord 
Bingham. 

Birchin(g) Lane, To send to : to order to 
be punished. From Birchin Lane in the 
City of London, a pun on * birch.* 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster (1570)] 

Bird in one’s bosoni. The : one’s loyalty. 
From an expression used by Sir Ralph 
Percy, a Lancastrian, killed at the 
Battle of Hedgly Moor (1464). 

Bird is flown, The : the person sought 
has escaped. [J ohn Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Bird in the hand, A : a certainty, as 
compared with a possibility. From 
the proverb ‘ A bird in the hand is 
worth two in the bush.’ 

Bird of ill-omen, A : one supposed to 
bring ill-luck. In allusion to the 
ancient practice of augury by birds. 

Bird of Juno, The : the peacock. 

Bird of the night. The : the owl. 
[Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, I, ii 
(1601)] 

Bird of passage, A : a sojourner ; one 
who, like the migratory birds, does 
not stay long anywhere. 

Bird of Washington, The : the American 
eagle. 

Bird, The Arabian : the phoenix. 

Bird, To get the big : see Big Bird. 

Bird told me, A little : a fictitious ex- 
planation of the source of knowledge. 
[Ecclesiastes, x, 20 : * Curse not the 
king, no not in thy thought . . for a 
bird of the air shall carry the voice, 
and that which hath wings shall tell 
the matter.* Heywood, Proverbes, ’ I 
hear by one bird that in mine ear was 
late chanting.*] 

Bird-Spit, A : a sword. Lit., a spit for 
cooking birds on. 

Bicd-witted, To be: to be apparently 
incapable of mental concentration ; to 
flit from one subject to another, like a 
bird. [Bacon, Advancement of Learn- 
ing, I, 7, §7 (1605)] 


[Birthday 

Bird’s-eye view, A : a general view taken 
from above, as seen by a bird (or from 
an aeroplane). 

Bird’s tail, As bare as a : stripped naked. 
[Terence in English (1614)] 

Birds of Diomedes ; swans. From the 
legend that after the death of the 
legendary Grk. hero, Diomedes, his 
companions were changed by the gods 
into swans. 

Birds of a feather : people of similar 
character. Generally deprecatingly. 
From the proverb, ‘ Birds of a feather 
flock together.* [Life and Death of 
Captain Thomas Stukeley,!, 362 (1605). 
Birds with one stone. To kill two : to 
attain two objects by one effort. 
[Plautus, Casina, 476] 

Birds’ milk : see Pigeons* milk. 

Birgham ! Gro to : go away (emphatic- 
ally). From Birgham in Scotland 
where the nobles who betrayed their 
country to Edward I were assembled. 

Birkenhead, The : an Eng. troop-ship 
that sank with a loss of 400 lives in 
1 852. The discipline and unselfishness 
of the men has become proverbial. 

Birmingham : see Brummagem. 

Birmingham Doctor, The : Samuel Parr 
(1747-1825), so-called by De Quincey 
on account of ’ his spurious and windy 
imitation of Dr. Johnson.’ See 
Birmingham. 

Birmingham Milton, The : Gottlieb 
Friedrich Klopstock (1724-1803), 
Germ, poet ; so-called by De Quincey. 
See Birmingham. 

Birmingham of Belgium, The : Li6ge. 

Birmingham of Russia, The : Tula. 

Birmingham Poet, The : John Freeth 
(1730-1808). 

Birmiugham School, The : orig. (previous 
to 1886) extreme Radicalism as 
preached by Joseph Chamberlain ; 
afterwards Liberal Unionism ; and 
still later Tarifi Reform. In both 
the latter cases as advocated and 
promoted by the same political 
leader. 

Birrell, To : to write in * a style, light, 
easy, playful, pretty, rather discursive, 
perhaps a little superficial. Its 
characteristic note is grace.' [G. W. E. 
Russell, Collections and Recollections 
(1898)] After Augustine Birrell (b. 
1850), English essayist and politician. 

Birthday honours : honours and titles 
conferred on the occasion of a royal 
birthday. 

Birthday suit, In : nude. 



Birthright] 

Birthright for a mess of pottage, To sell 
one’s : to exchange a permanent 
advantage for a temporary benefit. 
From the action of Esau, as narrated in 
Genesis, xxv. [G. Wilkins, Miseries of 
Enforced Marriage, III, 11 . 307-8 (1607)] 

Bishop of Chester, As poor as the: a 
sarcasm. The wealth of Bishopric of 
Chester in the 15th cent., when this 
simile originated, was immense. 

Bishops, Age of the : see Age. 

Bishop’s cope. To quarrel over a : see 
Quarrel. 

Bismarck of Asia, The : the Chinese 
statesman, Li Hung Chang (1823-1901). 
Otto, Prince Bismarck (1815-98), was 
the greatest statesman of the German 
Empire. 

Bit and sup, A : a little food and drink. 
[Vemey, Memoirs, II (1665)] 

Bit in (between) the teeth. To take the : 
to be obstinately determined, like a 
horse that catches the bit between his 
teeth when about to bolt. [Hey wood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Bit of one’s mind. To give a person a : 

to reprove a person sharply. 

Bite a person’s nose off, To : to answer 
a person snappishly, [Nashe, Lenten 
Stuffe, 47 (1599)] 

Bite, Bark to be worse than the : 

see Bark. 

Bite the hand that feeds one. To : to 

show base ingratitude. 

Bite off more ihan one can chew. To : 
to undertake more than one can carry 
out; in allusion to tobacco-chewing. 

Bite one’s thumb at. To : to insult. The 
thumb represented a fig and the action 
amounted to an intimation that the 
other party to the controversy was 
not considered of the value of a fig. 
[Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, I, i 

(1591)] 

Bite the dust, To : see Dust. 

Bite, To teach a fish to : see Teach. 

Biter bit. The : an aggressor unexpected- 
ly caught in his own trap. 

Bites of a cherry. To make two : to per- 
form a work in unnecessary instal- 
ments ; linger unnecessarily over a 
task. [Rabelais, Works, Bk. V, ch. 
xxviii] 

Bitten to the brain : drunk. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Bitter end. The : the last extremity ; 
the dregs. [Proverbs, v, 4 : * Her end 
is bitter as wormwood.'] Another 
derivation is a nautical one ; from the 
very end of the cable * abaft the bitts.' 


47 [Black 

Bitter as gall. As : very bitter. [Burton, 
Anatomy, II, 120 (1621I] 

Bitter as wormwood. As : very bitter, 
sour tempered. [Proverbs, v, 14 ; 
Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, V, 
ii (1588; ; Burton, Anatomy of Melan- 
choly, I, 338 (1621I] 

B.K.S. : barracl^. A military term. 

Blab (abroad). To : to talk or utter 
indiscreetly. ' Blab ' as a noun (one 
who talks much and unnecessarily) 
was in common use until the i8th 
cent., from the time of Chaucer, who 
used it. The verb ‘ blabber ’ was in 
use even earlier. 

Black Act, The : the Eng. statute 
of 1722, directed against certain 
lawless persons who designated 
themselves * The Blacks,* and black- 
ened their faces as a means of 
disguise. 

Black Acts, The : acts of the Scottish 
Parliament passed between the 
accession of James I and 1587. So- 
called because they were printed in 
black characters. 

Black and blue. To beat a person : to 

beat a person until he is badly bruised. 
[Dryden, Sir Martin Marr-all, IV, i 
(1688)] ‘ Blak and bla * and * blak 
and bio* were in use in the 13th 
cent. 

Black and white: right and wrong. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk, I 

(1570)] 

Black and white. In : in writing or print. 
Black for the ink, white for the paper. 
[Ben Jonson, Every Man in His 
Humour, IV, ii (1596)] 

Black Art, The : witchcraft. 

Black as a Newgate knocker : the New- 
gate Imocker is the curl worn by coster- 
mongers and criminals. 

Black as night. As : [Spenser, Fairie 
Queen, VI, vii, 43 (1590-6)] 

Bla& as pitch, As : absolutely black. 
[Ovid, Ars AmcUoria, II, 657-8 ; 
R. de Brunne, Handlyng Synne (1303) ; 
Earl of Sackville, A Mirrour for 
Magistrates (1563)] 

Black as soot. As : pitch black. [Jos. 
Hall, Satires, Bk. I, vii, 11 . 21-2 (1597)] 

Black as thunder. As : pitch black ; 
gloomy. 

Black Assizes, The : assizes held at 
Oxford in 1577, when several hundred 
persons died of an epidemic. 

Black Bands : German mercenaries 
employed by Louis XII of F^^ce in 
his Italian wars. 



Blaok] 48 

Black BarUiolomew : St. Bartholomew’^ 
Day, 1661, on which, in consequence 
of the Act of Uniformity, 2,000 
Presbyterian pastors were ejected. 

Black hook, A : a record of offenders 
and offences. 

Black books, To be in a person’s : to be 
in disgrace with him. In the i6th 
cent, and later a Black Book was used 
for recording offenders. 

Black Brunswickers : troops raised by 
the Duke of Brunswick in 1809 to 
avenge the death of his father at the 
Battle of Auerstadt. Their uniforms 
were black, in mourning for the late 
Duke, and their badge a skuU-and- 
crossbones. 

Black Cap, The : a cap worn by Eng. 
judges when pronouncing sentence of 
death ; properly, the cap that forms 
part of the full official dress of a 
judge. 

Black Cattle : Negro slaves. 

Black Clergy, The : the Russian regular 
monastic Orders. The parish priests 
are called 'The White Clergy.’ 

Black Coat, A : a parson ; in fusion to 
his dress. [Earle, Micvocosmography : 

A Profane Man (1628)] 

Black Code, The : legislation regulating 
the treatment of negroes in the 
Southern of the U.S. before the 
emancipation of the slaves. Properly, 
the Code Noir or Black Code, intro- 
duced by Bienville, the French 
governor of Louisiana, about 1723. 

Black Country, The : the coal and iron 
districts of Staffordshire and Warwick- 
shire, on account of their grimy 
state. 

Black as a crow, As : [Apuleius, Meia- 
morphoseon, Bk, II, ix ; Chaucer, 
Knighfs Tale (14th cent.)] 

Black Death, The : an epidemic of putrid 
typhus which ravaged Europe in the 
middle of the 14th cent, and is said to 
have carried off a quarter of the 
population of ,the world. 

Black Diamonds : coals. Coal and 
diamonds are closely allied chemically. 

Black Dog : (i) base coin, current in the 
early i8th cent. ; (2) depression ; ill- 
humour. 

V Black dog. To blush like a : not to blush 
. at all. [Withal, Dictionarie (1634)] 

B?ack Douglas : William Douglas, Lord 
Nithsdale (d. 1392). 

Black ,Bagle, Order of the : the highest 
prusb.'an order, founded by Frederick I 
in 1701. 


[Black 

Blade Fast, The : the Jewish Day of 
Atonement, a day of strict abstention 
from food and drink. 

Blade flag, A ; the standard of a pirate ; 
also used as the announcement of the 
infliction of capital punishment. 

Blade Flags : (i) Chinese pirates in the 
service of Annam in the war with 
France ; orig. Chinese rebels ; (2) 

Moslem soldiers, from the colour of the 
banner of the Abbasides. 

Blade Friday: (i) May ii, 1866, the 
date of the failure of Overend and 
Gurney, the Glasgow bankers, which 
led to a financial panic ; (2) Dec. 6, 

1745, the day on which the news 
reached London that the Young 
Pretender had reached Derby ; (3) in 

the U.S. Sept. 24, 1869 and Sept. 18, 
1873, days of financial panic in New 
York ; (4) Good Friday, on account of 
the black vestments worn in the 
Roman Catholic Church. 

Black Gown, A : a parson, collegian, 
or 'other learned man. In allusion 
to the uniform of the two former 
classes. 

Black as Hell, As : (i) pitch-black ; 
(2) infernally wicked. [Earl of Dorset, 
A Mirrour for Magistrates (1563)] 

Black Hole, A : a prison or place of 
internment of insufficient size. After 
the Black Hole of Calcutta (q.v.). 
Until 1868 it was the official designa- 
tion of a military place of punish- 
ment. 

Black Hole of Calcutta : the small 
dungeon in which Surajah Dowlah 
placed his British prisoners in 1756. 
123 of the 146 prisoners died of 
suffocation or heat during the 
night. 

Bla(£ Horse, The : the 7th Dragoon 
Guards, whose facings are black. 

Black as ink, As : pitch black. [Spenser, 
The Faerie Queen, I, i, 22 (1590-6)] 

Black is white,' To swear : to swear what 
is visibly or obviously untrue. 

Black Ivory : Negro slaves. 

Black Jack : (i) John Alexander Logan 
{1826-86), American general ; so-called 
by his soldiers on account of his com- 
plexion and the colour of his hair; 
(2) J. P. Kemble (1757-1823;, Eng. 
actor, for a similar reason. 

Black Jack, A : a large leather bottle 
with a tarred exterior. 

Black Letter : the heavy Gothic type used 
generally by the early printers in 
England, 



Black] 49 

Black Letter Day, A : a day of mis- 
fortune ; from the practice of the 
Romans of marking such days in the 
calendar with charcoal. 

Black Letter Dogs : Antiquaries searching 
for Black-Letter hooks. 

Black List, A : (i) a list of persons 
under suspicion or noted as bad 
characters ; (2) in the Navy, a list of 
defaulters. 

Black Man, The : the Devil. 

Black Maria, A : a popular name for the 
black veMcle in which criminals are 
conveyed to prison. Said to derive 
from a negress named Maria Lee (or 
Black Maria) of Boston, U.S., who 
used frequently to assist the police in 
controlling refractory prisoners. Other 
derivations are from ‘ black ' the colour 
of the vehicle, and ‘ marinated ’ (trans- 
ported to a convict-settlement abroad) 
or * married ' (chained to another 
prisoner). 

Black Monday : (i) Easter Monday, on 
account of a great death-dealing storm 
which arose on that day in 1360 ; 

(2) in Melbourne, Feb. 27, 1865, the 
date of a wind-storm that caused great 
destruction ; (3) in use among school- 
boys for the first Monday after the 
return to school. 

Black Money : false money introduced 
into England in the time of the 
Plantagenets. 

Black monkey : see Black dog. 

Black Museum, The : the collection of 
criminal relics at Scotland Yard, the 
headquarters of the London police. 

Black oz has trodden on his foot, A : 

misfortune has overtaken him . Black 

oxen were sacrificed to the gods of the 
Lower Regions. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] The phrase has special 
reference to marriage. The proverb, 
‘The black ox never trod upon his 
foot,* means ‘He is not married.* 

‘ The black ox hath trampled on him * 
is an equivalent of ‘ He is hen-pecked.* 

Black Pope, The : the General of the 
Order of Jesuits. 

Black Prince, The : the eldest son of 
Edward III. On account of (i) the 
colour of his armour, or (2) the terror 
of his arms. [Froissart]. 

Black Republic, The: Hayti; a West 
Indian State formed for the most part 
of negroes. 

Black Republicans : Republican oppo- 
nents of slavery, during the period which 
preceded the American Civil Wax. 


[Black 

Black Rod (properly. Gentleman Usher 
of the Black Rod) : an Eng. Court 
and Parliamentary official ; from his 
wand of office. 

Black Sanctus : a burlesque hymn ; a 
parody of the Sanctus, the hymn which 
concludes the Eucharistic preface. 

Black Saturday : in Scotland, Aug. 4, 
1641, when the Scottish Parliament 
committed the country to episco- 
pacy. 

Black Saunt : see Black Sanctus. 

Black sheep, A : a person of bad 
character. In a flock a black sheep is 
of less value than its white fellows. 

Black swan, A : a great rarity. 

Black Thursday: Feb. 6, 1851, in 
Victoria, Australia; a day on which 
many alarming bushfires following a 
long period of drought did much 
damage. 

Black to be white. To swear : to commit 
perjury. 

Black, To look : to look displeased. 
From the black clouds that indicate 
stormy weather. 

Black Watch, The : a regiment of High- 
landers, formerly the 43rd and after- 
wards the 42nd Regt. of the line. On 
account of their dark tartan uniform. 
They were orig. appointed to watch 
the Highlands. 

Black Wednesday : Jan. 8, 1878, on 
which a large number of civil servants 
in Victoria were dismissed in conse- 
quence of the refusal of the Legis- 
lative Council to pass the Appropri- 
ation Bill. 

Blacks, The : mourning ; mutes at 
funerals. See Bianchi and Neri. 

Blacks, The : the yth Dragoon Guards. 
From the colour of their facings. 

Black-and-Tan, A : a member of the 
militarized police, temporary members 
of the Royal Irish Constabulary, 
recruited for service in Ireland in 1920. 
In allusion to their uniforms — black 
caps and khaki (tan) clothing. 

Black-and-tan Country, The : the 
Southern States of the N. Amer. Union. 
From the colour of the negro inhabi- 
tants and to ‘.tan,* to ‘ thrash * — ^the 
country where the negroes were 
thrashed. 

Black-and-White artist, A : an artist 
who draws in ink or black crayon on a 
white surface. / 

Black-birder, A : a vessel engaged in 
conve5ring Kanaka labour to the place 
of its emplojunent. 



Black] 50 [Blatant 


Black-fisher, A : one who engages in 
blackfishing. 

Black-fishing : the catching of salmon, 
which have just spawned, by torch- 
light at night. 

Blackamoor, A : a dark-skinned person ; 
properly a W. African. 

Blackamoor white. To wash a : to under- 
take an impossible task. From the 
fable of .®sop. Washing the Blackamoor 
White. 

Blackamoors’ teeth : cowry-shells, 

widely used as money by natives of 
Africa. 

Blackball, To : to ostracize, or refuse 
membership to a club or society. 
From the black ball formerly used to 
signify the negative in the iDallot for 
admission. 

Blackfoot, A : a messenger between the 
two parties to a love-affair. 

Blackfdar, A : a Dominican ; on account 
of the colour of his garb. 

Blackguards : men of bad character, 
esp. criminal loafers of the lower 
classes, or in a higher rank of society 
swindlers and men prone to dishonour- 
able conduct. Orig. the servants of 
the lowest rank in a palace or in the 
army, who were called ' blackguards * 
on account of their grimy appearance 
as contrasted with the guards of 
honour and other guards. While on 
journeys their duty was to guard the 
kitchen utensils. 

Blackguard, To : to abuse in insulting 
language. 

Blackleg, A : one who, not a member of 
a trade union, replaces a workman out 
on strike (1889^ Formerly one who 
swindled on the turf or in other 
gambling occupations. These latter 
generally wore black gaiters or high 
boots. 

Blackmail : payment to avoid exposure 
or annoyance. Originally, tribute 
levied on residents on the Scot. -Eng. 
border by freebooters in order to 
secure freedom from molestation. 
Blacksmith’s Daughter, The : a key, esp. 
that of a sponging-house. 

Blacksmith, !ni6 Learned : Elihu Bumtt 
(1811-79), Amer. author, 

S horn Winter, A : cold weather, 
n the blackthorn is in blossom. 

A : a young man .about town, of 
good spirits, somewhat self-indulgent, 
but inspired by no deliberately evil 
intent... Possibly connected with 
* blade,’ a sword, on account of the 


swords such men formerly wore. The 
sense of the word has degenerated 
since the i8th cent. \The Merry 
Devil of Edmonton, 1. 262 (1608)] 

Blague {Fr.) : humbug. [Introduced by 
Carlyle, French Revolution, V, vi 

(1837)] 

Blanes d’Espagne : the extreme French 
royalists who support the claim of the 
Spanish Bourbons to the French 
throne. 

Blank cheque to , . To give a : to give 
unlimited or undefined authority. A 
blank cheque is a cheque which has 
been signed without the amount to 
be paid having been inserted. 

Blanket Fair : (i) the fair held on the 
Thames during the great frost of 
1683-4; (2) a bed. 

Blanket, On the wrong side of the : of 

illegitimate birth. 

Blanket term, A : an omnibus term ; a 
term describing an important member 
of a group extended to cover the 
whole of the group. An Americanism. 

Blanket, A wet : one who seeks to dis- 
courage others in an enterprize, who 
looks on the gloomy side, who ‘ throws 
cold water * on an undertaking, etc. 
[R. Cumberland, The Fashionable 
Lover, I, i (1772)] 

Blanketeers : (i) Lancashire working- 
men who, furnished with provisions 
and a blanket, marched to London in 
1817 to demand assistance from Parlia- 
ment ; (2) a party of unemployed who 
marched on the American Congress 
with blankets on their backs in 1894. 

Blarney : flattery. From the Blarney 
Stone at Blarney Castle, Ireland, 
which is said to endow him who kisses 
it with the power of cajolery. The 
reputation of the stone may have been 
derived from the endless plausible 
excuses invented by Lord Clancarty in 
1602 to relieve him of the necessity of 
fulfilling his promise to surrender 
Blarney Castle to the Queen's forces. 
Blarney-stone, To kiss the : to be given 
to the practice of wheedling flattery, 
such as that which is supposed to be 
characteristic of the Irish. See 
Blarney. 

Blatant Beast, The: (i) calumny; a 
term invented by Spenser in his 
Faerie Queen (1590-6) to describe the 
child of Cerberus and Chimsera, in 
whom calumny was symbolized; (2) 
the multitude. [Spenser, Th^ ReUirne 
from Parnassus (1606)] 



Blayney*sj 51 [Blizzard 


Blayney^s Bloodhounds : the 2ud Batta> 
lion of Princess Victoria’s Irish Fusiliers 
(form, the 89th Foot). After their 
colonel. Lord Blaney, and their tireless 
pursuit of the Irish rebels in 1798. 

Blazer, A : a sporting jacket of light, 
bright colour or colours. From 'to 
blaze.’ First applied to that worn (a 
bright red) by the members of the 
Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John’s 
College, Cambridge. 

Blazes ! Go to : a euphuism for ' Go to 
hell ! ’ In allusion to the fires that 
are supposed to blaze there. 

Bleed a person, To : to extort money 
from a person. [Dryden, An Evening* s 
Love, IV, i (1668)] 

Bleed a person white. To : to extort the 
last penny from him. 

Bleeding Kansas : the State of Kansas, 
U.S. ; so-called on account of its 
many fights over the slavery question. 
Orig. coined as a newspaper headline. 

Blenheim Spaniels : the electors of 
Oxford who for a long period could be 
trusted to vote in accordance with the 
wishes of the Duke of Marlborough, 
whose residence was at Blenheim, 

Bl^eim Steps, To go to : said of a 
corpse surreptitiously removed from 
its grave and sold for dissection. 
There was formerly a famous ana- 
tomical school at Blenheim Steps, 
where corpses found a ready market. 

Blighty : English and Anglo-Indian 
soldiers’ term for England. Possibly 
from Urdu walayate, foreign, akin to 
Turkish vilayet. 

Blind, A : a pretence, in the sense of that 
which deceives or mentally blinds a per- 
son. [South, Seymons II, 208 (1664)] 

Blind alley, A : a street, or road, closed 
at one end ; a cuL^-sac. * Blind ’ 
in the sense of secret, dark. 

Blind as a bat : bats are not blind but 
are unable to distinguish objects in a 
good light. 

Blmd as a beetle ; beetles are not blind, 
but flying ones sometimes knock 
against people and objects as if they 
were so. 

Blind as a harper, As : blind. In 
allusion to the many blind minstrels 
who used to wander about the country. 
[Lilly, Sapho and Phao, IV, iii (1591)] 

Blind as a mole : moles are not blind, 
but have very small eyes. In one 
species the eyes are covered by 
membranes and it was probably to 
these that Aristotle referred when he 
said ' The mole is blind.’ 


Blind as an owl, As : owls are not blind, 
but see better in the dusk than by day. 

Blind Bard, The : Homer. 

Blmd Boy, The : Cupid, the Roman god 
of love ; depicted as a blind boy. 

Blind Department, The ; the department 
of the Post Office which deals with 
insufficiently or obscurely addressed 
letters. 

Blind ditch, A : a hidden ditch : see 
Blind alley. 

Blind eye. To have (apply) the : deliber- 
ately to ignore or pretend not to see 
that which is inconvenient. After 
the story of Lord Nelson who at the 
Battle of Copenhagen applied his 
telescope to his blind eye so as to 
avoid seeing an inconvenient signal. 

Blind Harry : a Scottish minstrel 
(d. c. 1492). 

Blind hedge, A : a hawthorn hedge, not 
easily detected : see Blind alley. 

Blind Hookey : a leap in the dark. 
After a card game so-called. 

Blind in the purse : poor. [Rare 
Triumphs of Love and Fortune, III, 
1. 93 (15S9)] 

Blind journey. To have a : to have a 
fruitless journey. [Hy. Porter, Two 
Angry Women of Abington, 1. 2569 

(1599)] 

Blind leaders of the blind; see the 
allusion to the Pharisees in Matthew 
XV, 14; also Plato, Republic, viii. 

Blind man’s holiday : the period of 
dusk, when it is too dark to work, but 
not yet dark enough to justify the 
use of artificial light. [Nashe, Lenten 

Stuffe (1599)] 

Blind man’s lantern : a blind man’s 
walking-stick. 

Blind manuscripts : anonymous manu- 
scripts. [Fenton, Treatise of Usurie 
(1612)] 

Blind side of a man. The : the tender or 
yielding part of a man’s nature. 
[Chapman, The Gentleman Usher, 1 , i 
(1606)] 

Blind Master, The: Cupid. See Blind 
Boy. 

Blind men’s dinner. The : a meal for 
which no payment was made. From 
the story of the twelve blind men who 
obtained a good dinner at an inn, each 
believing that one of the others had 
received a gift wherewith to pay for it. 

Blind writing : writing in ink intended 
to fade. 

Blizzard, A : a violent gale of snow and 
sleet. A word of Amer. origin, not in 
general use before 1880, but known as 



Bloc] 5 

early as 1834, Perhaps onomatopoeic 
in origin. 

Bloc, A : a close co-operation between 
Parties in a Parliament, in support 
of a common polic}^ 

Block, Ben : a sailor. 

Block a hill. To : to prevent progress of 
a bill in Parliament by means of 
making full use of the forms of the 
House. 

Blockade, A pacific : a blockade exer- 
cised without a declaration of war and 
without the use of arms. 

Blockade, A paper : a blockade that is 
merely nominal or ineffective. 

Blockhead, A : a stupid person. Lit., a 
wooden-head. [Coverdale, Erasmzfs' 
Paraphrasey I xl, 14 (104Q)] 

Bloke, A: a somewhat contemptuous 
term for a man. 

Blood, A : a rake, a man of pleasure. 

' Blood" as the seat of the emotions, or as 
denoting good or noble family. [Thos. 
Kyd, Jeronimo, Pt. I, 1. 76 (1591)] 

Blood and Iron, The Man of : Prince 
Otto von Bismarck, Germ, statesman 
(1815-98). From a phrase in a speech 
made by him before the Budget Com- 
mission of the Prussian House of 
Delegates in 1862. The phrase had 
previously been used by him in a letter 
to Baron von Schleinitz, the Foreign 
Minister, in May, 1859. Bismarck did 
not, however, coin the phrase. It had 
been employed by (i) Quintilian, the 
Rom. rhetorician (c. 35 to 95) ; (2) 

Ernst Moritz Arndt, the Germ, patriot, 
political v/riter and poet (1769-1860) ; 
(3) l>y others. 

Blood and thunder novel, A : cheap, 
sensational fiction. 

Blood, Bad : ill-feeling. [Bacon, 
Henry VII (1622)] 

Blood, Blue : see Blue. 

Blood boil, To make one’s : to arouse 
to anger. [Benj . Franklin, Poor 
Richard's Almanac for 1742] 

Blood from a stone, To attempt to get 
(draw) : to endeavour to obtain some- 
thing from a person who does not 
possess it. 

Blood into . . To infuse new : to intro- 
duce new and vital elements into . . 
Blood of the Grograms : pseudo- 
aristocracy. From ' grogram " a 
material composed of silk and mohair, 
from Fr. gros^ coarse, and Engl. 
grain. 

Blood, The Man of : Charles I ; so-called 
by the Puritans on account of his 
armed opposition to them. 


[Bloody 

Blood, A Prince of the : Ic., of the 
Blood Royal. 

Blood Tax, The : (i) the section of the 
Crimes Act of 1S82 which authorized 
the levy of a fine on a district in which 
a political murder had been committed; 
(2) military conscription, so-described 
by Gen. Maximilian Sebastian Foy in 
the French Chamber, May 28, 1824. 

Blood, To run in the : to be inherited or 
heritable. [Evelyn, Diary, (Apl. 16^6)] 

Blood, To taste : to enjoy a pleasure for 
the first time. 

Blood upon the head of . . : responsi- 
bility for murder or other offence. 
[Joshua, ii, 19] 

Blood, A young : a young energetic 
member of a political party or other 
movement. 

Blood money ; (i) money paid to a man 
as an inducement to him to betray or 
give evidence against another ; (2) 
money paid to a man as an inducement 
to forego the right to revenge. 

Blood-sucker, A : one who extorts money 
from another. [ J asper Fisher, pti imus 
Troes, III, i (1633) ; for To suck a per- 
son's blood used in this sense, see 
Description of an Ungodly World, 1. 49 

(1557)] 

Bloody Assizes, The : the trials by Judge 
Jeffreys in the West of England after 
the suppression of Monmouth's 
Rebellion (1685), when very many 
people were condemned to death and 
executed. 

Bloody Bill, The : the Statute of the Six 
Articles (1539), which made denial of 
the doctrine of Transubstantiation a 
capital offence. 

Bloody Butcher, The : see Butcher of 
Cull Oden. 

Bloody Chasm, To bridge the : to soften 
the memory of the Amer. Civil War 
and its effects. 

Bloody Eleventh, The : the i ith Regt. 
of Foot, now the Devonshire Regt. 
From their heavy losses in the Battle 
of Salamanca, and elsewhere. 

Bloody Mary: Mary I, Queen of England. 
On account of her persecution of the 
Protestants. 

Bloody Tower, The : that part of the 
Tower of London in which the bodies 
of the two princes, murdered in 1483, 
were buried. 

Bloody Wedding, The : the Massacre of 
St. Bartholomew, which took place 
during the marriage-festivities of 
Henry of Navarre (Henri IV) and 
Marguerite de Valois (1572). 



Bloody] 53 

Bloody Week, The : May 21-28, 1871, 
when Paris was set on fire by the 
Communists. 

Bloomers : knickerbockers for women. 
After Amelia Jenks Bloomer, the 
Amer. inventor of the costume 
(1818-94). 

Blot on the ‘ Scutcheon,^ A : a stain on 
the character. Metaphor drawn from 
heraldry. 

Blow great gims, To ; (of the wind) to 
blow so fiercely as to resemble the 
discharge of artillery. [Charles Dibdin 
(1745-1814), The Sailor’s Consolation} 
Also used metaphorically. 

Blow hot and cold, To : to affirm and to 
contradict at the same time. From 
the fable of a traveller who was enter- 
tained by a sat}^ who blew his fingers 
to warm them and his broth to cool it. 
[W. Bullinger, Decades (1577)] 

Blow the coals. To : to inflame passion ; 
to excite discord. [Lyly, Euphues : 
Anatomy of Wit (1579)] 

Blow off steam. To : to disperse one's 
superfluous energy. 

Blow one’s own trumpet. To : see 
Trumpet. 

Blows, To come to : to fight. 

Bluchers : military half-boots, as worn 
by Field-Marshal Gebhard von 
Bliicher (1742-1819). 

Blue, A : (i) at Oxford or Cambridge, 
Eton or Harrow, a representative of 
the Univ. or school in sport ; (2) a 

blue stocking [q.v.). 

Blue, To : to squander ; to spend reck- 
lessly. From either (i) to pass into 
■ the blue, i.e., into the sky or the blue 
sea, or (2; to blow away. 

Blue, Out of the : quite unexpectedly. 

Blue Apron, A : (i) a tradesman, from 
the apron formerly worn by all shop- 
keepers; (2) an amateur statesman. 

See next entry. 

Blue Apron Statesman, A : an amateur 
politician ; a tradesman who poses as 
a statesman. From the blue apron 
formerly worn by all tradesmen. 

Blue beans : bullets. From the colour 
of lead. 

Blue Bird, The : happiness. After 
Maeterlinck's play of that name. 

Blue Blazes : Hell, in allusion to the 
colour of burning sulphur. 

Blue Blood : royal or noble birth ; orig. 
used in Spain to denote freedom from 
Jewish or Moorish taint. In the fair 
Gothic type the veins show blue 
through the skin. 


[Blue 

Blue, A bolt from the : see Bolt. 

Blue Bonnets ; see Blue Caps. 

Blue Book, A : an Eng. Parliamentary or 
Privy Council publication. From the 
colour of the paper cover in which 
they are bound. Hence any govern- 
ment publication.- 

Blue Bottle, A : a policeman ; a servant ; 
a beadle ; a harlot. From the colour 
of their clothing, the last-mentioned in 
the House of Correction. 

Blue Caps; Blue Bonnets: (i) Scotsmen; 
from the colour of the caps worn by 
them ; (2) the Dublin Fusiliers ; 

from the reference to them during the 
Indian Mutiny by Nana Sahib as 
‘ blue-capped.' 

Blue, Dark (A) : a student of Oxford or 
scholar of Harrow. From the Uni- 
versity and school colours. 

Blue Devils, To get the : to become un- 
reasonably and morbidly depressed. 
[Steine, Letters y No. 33 (1762)] 

Blue dog. To blush like a : not to blush 
at all. [Swift (Simon Wagstafi), 
Polite Conversation (1738)] 

Blue Pish, The : the shark. From the 
colour of its upper parts. 

Blue flag. To hoist the : to turn publican 
or fishmonger, in allusion to the blue 
aprons worn in those trades. 

Blue glasses, To look through : to regard 
objects wrongly. 

Blue God, The : Neptune, the god of 
the sea. 

Blue Gown, A : (i) in Scotland, a 
licensed beggar, from the colour of his 
attire ; the Bluegowns were orig. 
patronized and authorized to beg by 
the kings of Scotland ; (2) a harlot ; 

from the colour of their former uniform 
in the House of Correction. 

Blue Grass State, The : Kentucky, 
which includes the blue grass 
region. 

Blue Guards, The : the Royal Horse 
Guards, formerly the Oxford Blues. 

Blue Hen, The : Delaware. The name 
was derived from the * Game Cock 
Regt.’ raised in Delaware, which 
distinguished itself in the War of 
Independence. One of its officers, 
Capt. Caldwell, a game-cock fancier, 
held the view that a true game-cock 
must be the offspring of a blue hen. 
Hence the appellation. 

Blue Horse, The : the Fourth Dragoons. 
From the colour of their facings. 

Blue Law State, The : Connecticut r see 
next entry. 



54 


Blue] 

Blue Laws : supposed draconic iaws 
enacted in Connecticut in 1640, by 
which several offences, even dis- 
obedience to parents, were made 
capital. Hence a general name for 
Puritanical legislation. 

Blue Light, A : a person of excessive 
and unconcealed piety. Nautical 
term. 

Blue, A Li^t : a student at Cambridge 
University and scholar of Eton. 
From the University and school 
colours. 

Blue, A Man in : a policeman. From 
the colour of his uniform. 

Blue Monday : (i) the Monday before 
Lent ; a day of dissipation ; (2) a 
workingman's Monday spent in idle- 
ness and dissipation. 

Blue Moon, Once in a : exceedingly 
rarely. [Roy and Barlow, Rede Me 
and he not wrothe (1528)] 

Blue Noses : Nova Scotians. After the 
name of a potato grown widely in that 
Province, or possibly in allusion to the 
coldness of the winter there. 

Blue Peter ; (i) a flag hoisted by a 
vessel as a si^al of immediate sailing ; 
(2) the playing of an unnecessarily 
high card at whist as a signal to one's 
partner. ‘ Peter ' is a corruption of 
partir, to set out. 

Blue Ribbon, The : (i) a distinction of the 
highest character ; probably from the 
blue ribbon of the Order of the Garter, 
the highest Eng. Order of knighthood ; 
(2) a badge of total abstention from 
alcoholic liquor ; after the Blue Ribbon 
Army (?.t;.). 

Blue ^bbon Army : a band of total 
abstainers from alcoholic liquor, who 
wear a small piece of blue ribbon as 
a badge. Instituted in 1882. 

Blue Ribbon of the Turf, The : the 
Derby, the principal Eng. horse-race. 
So designated by Lord Beaconsfield 
in the Life of Lord George Beniinck 
(1852). 

Blue Roses : unattainable objects of 
desire. Blue roses were unknown 
until a few years ago, when the 
Germans introduced a climbing-rose 
called Veilchonhlau (violet blue). 

Blue Stocking, A : a learned, somewhat 
pedantic woman. After The Blue 
Stocking Club, a literary society, 
founded by Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu 
(1720-1800), about 1750, to which 
one of the members (Benjamin StiUing- 
fleet) came in blue worsted, instead of 


[Bluff 

the usual silk stockings. It is said, 
however, that the blue stockings were 
first worn not at Mrs. Montagu's but at 
Mrs. Vesey's, and by a Frenchman 
who took his invitation literally, 'You 
may come in your blue stockings if 
you like.' 

Blue, To look : to appear annoyed. 
[Lilly, Sapho and Phao, II, iii 
(X59I)] 

Blue, To talk : to be indecent in con- 
versation, possibly from the colour of 
the uniform worn by harlots in the 
House of Correction. 

Blue True : thoroughly reliable and 
steadfast ; loyal ; conservative. See 
Coventry Blue, True as. Blue was 
considered the colour of truth and 
loyalty as far back as Ancient 
Rome. 

Blues, The : see Blue Devils. 

Blue-eyed Maid, The : Minerva ; so-called 
by Homer. 

Bluejacket, A : a sailor. In allusion to 
the colour of his costume. 

Blue-mantle : the Eng. pursuivant-at- 
anns. From the colour of his official 
robe. 

Blue-pencil, To : (of an editor) to delete 
portions of a M.S. From the blue 
pencil usually employed in the 
process. 

Bluebeard, A : a brutal husband ; one 
who marries and murders wife after 
wife successively. From the name of 
a character in a popular tale told by 
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), based 
perhaps on the career of Gilles de 
Laval, Baron de Retz (1396-1440), 
Maxshal of France. 

Bluecoat Boy, A ; a pupil at Christ’s 
Hospital. From the colour of the 
school uniform, 

Bluecoat School ; Christ's Hospital. 
From the colour of the school uniform. 

Bluejackets ; sailors as distinct from 
marines. From the colour of their 
jackets. 

Bluewater School, The : the school that 
holds the view that the function of a 
navy in war is to seek out and attack 
the enemy and not to concentrate its 
efforts on defence. 

Bluff, To : to deceive or hoodvdnk. A 
card-term adopted from the game of 
poker, possibly related to ‘ bluff ' in 
the sense of a blinker for a horse. 

Bluff Hal (Harry) : Henry VIII of 
England. On account of his bluff and 
burly manners. 



BlttsU 


55 


[Boeotian 


in courage. A 
of considerable 
, Italian Taylor and 


Blush, At a ; Blush, At first : at first 
sight, speaiing without consideration. 
In allusion to the habit of blushing 
when taken by surprise. [For 'At a 
blush/ Lilly, Gallathea, II, iii (1592) ; 
for ‘At first blush,' Gosson, Schoole of 
Abuse, Ep. Dedic. (i579)] 

Bo, Big : see Big Bo. 

Bo-peep with, To play : to hide from 
while keeping the other person in view. 
[Hy. Porter, Two Angry Women of 
Abington, 1, 2037 (1599)] 

Bo to a goose, To say : to be not 
altogether lacking 
proverbial phrase 
antiquity. [Amim 
His Boy (1609)] 

Boanerges : aloud, over-bearing speaker. 
From Boanerges, ‘ the sons of thunder,* 
the name given to James and John, 
the sons of Zebedee. [Mark, iii, 17] 
Board, To go hy the : to be finally lost. 
A nautical term, meaning to fall over- 
board or by the ship’s side. [Defoe, 
Captain Singleton (1720)] 

Board School, A : a Public Ele- 
mentary School in England, managed 
by a School Board. School Boards 
were abolished by Parliament in 1904- 
Board, To sweep the : to secure every- 
thing. Orig. a card-term, meaning to se- 
cure all the stakes on the board or table. 
Board wages : an allowance to domestic 
servants in lieu of board or food. 
Boards, The: the stage. From the 
wooden planks of which it is formed. 
Boat as (with) another, To he (row) in the 
same : to be involved in the same 
circumstances as another. First used 
by Pope Clement I (c. 30-100) in a 
letter to the Church at Corinth on the 
occasion of a dissension. Probably a 
reference to a boat launched from a 
wrecked ship. 

Boat sails in smooth waters, One’s : the 
opportunity is favourable. [Tibullus, 
I, V, 75-6] 

Boats (behind one), To hum one’s : by 
destroying one's means of retreat to 
strengthen one's courage for the 
assault. Armies were encouraged 
for victory in this manner by Aga- 
thocles of Syracuse in liis expedition 
against Carthage (310-307 B.C.) ; the 
Emperor Julian in his expedition 
against Persia (363 B.C.) ; Robert 
Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, 
in his expedition against Emperor 
Alexius (1084) ; and Hernando Cortes 
on the invasion of Mexico (1519)- 


Boh Aores, A : a coward ; a ludicrous 
boaster. After a character in Sheridan, 
The Rivals (1775). 

Boh Sawyer, A : a medical student of 
not very high moral character. After 
a character in Dickens, Pickwick 
Papers (1836). 

Bohadil, A ; a boasting blusterer. After 
a character in Ben Jonson, Every Man 
in his Humour (1596). 

Bobbing Joan : the Earl of Max of 1715, 
who displayed opportunism in support 
of the two rival dynasties of Stuart 
and Hanover. After the name of an 
old dance. . 

Bobby, A : a slang nickname for a 
policeman. From Sir Robert Peel, the 
Home Secretary, who passed the 
Metropolitan Police Act of 1828, 

‘ Bobby ' being a pet-name for Robert. 

Bob-wig, A : a wig with bobs or short 
curls ; hence, an important personage. 

Bocardo, A : a prison ; a dungeon. 
After the name of a prison in Osrford, 
demolished in 1771. 

Boche ; Bosche, A : a term of insult 
and contempt applied since 1914 to 
Germans, esp. by the French. From 
Germ., bursch, a lad, or from hurschen, 
to shoot (with a rifle). Another 
derivation is from Les Alboches, an 
invented nickname connoting ‘ The 
Blockheads,' given by French printers 
to their German colleagues a few years 
before the outbreak of the War of 
1870-1. Alboche itself was derived 
from boche, a French colloquial term 
coined about the year i860 to designate 
a person of bad character. 

Boek-beer : a kind of Lager-beer. From 
Germ., Bock-bier, a corruption of 
Einbecker, from Einbeck, Hanover, 
famous for its beers. 

Bodkin, To walk : of a man walking 
between two women. Because, like a 
bodkin, he is sheathed and harmless. 
Body and soul together, To keep : to 
sustain life. [Maria Edgeworth, 
Castle Rackrent (1799)] 

Body Politic, The : the State. [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Seditions and Troubles 
(1625)] 

Body-snatcher, A : one who opened a 
grave in order to steal the body from 
it and sell it for dissection. The 
earliest known instance of this ofience 
occurred in 1777. 

Boeotian : stupid, foolish. ^ After 
Boeotia, in ancient Greece ; the inhabi- 
tants were proverbially rude and stupid . 



Boeotian] 56 

Boeotian ears : ears that have no sense 
of music or of eloquence. 

Boer, A : a Dutch inhabitant of S. 
Africa ; akin to boor. From Germ., 
hauer, a peasant. 

Bog-trotters : robbers infesting the bogs 
of Ireland. 

Bogus : counterfeit. Of Amer. origin, 
said to have appeared first in 1827 to 
represent an implement for coining 
false money and to have been derived 
from * tantrabogus,’ a word applied in 
Vermont to any ugly object. Another 
derivation is from Borghese, a swindler 
who about the year 1837 specialized in 
Boston in the manufacture and 
passing of false and worthless secur- 
ities. 

Bohea : a class of tea. Alter a range of 
hills in China. 

Bohemian, A : one who leads a free, 
unconventional life apart from the 
society to which he naturally belongs. 
Used esp. of men of artistic or literary 
tastes and occupations. The word 
used in this sense was introduced by 
W. M. Thackeray in FiJwf/y Fair (1847). 

In French it had been previously used 
to denote a vagabond, adventurer, 
person of irregular life or habits — a 
transference of the sense of gypsy. The 
word was first used to denote * gypsy * 
in the 15th cent, when, on their 
appearance in Western Europe, the 
gypsies were thought to have come 
from Bohemia. 

Bohemian Tartar, A : a gypsy. By the 
French, gypsies are called ‘ Bohe- 
miens * ; by the Germans, ‘ Tartars.' 
Shakespeare combined both terms in 
Merry Wives of Windsor, IV, v 
(1598-9). 

Bon a bone, To : to act foolishly and to 
no purpose. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Bold Beauchamp : see Beauchamp, As 
bold as. 

Bold as brass, As : (glaring ; audaciously 
forward. 

Bologna, A : a sausage of the kind orig. 
made at Bologna, Italy. 

Bolshevik, A ; an extreme revolutionary. 
The Anglicized form of the name of a 
socialist-political Party in Russia. 
Russ., Bolshinstivs, majority ,* from 
the majority who voted with Lenin at 
the Russian Socialist Congress held in 
London in 1903. 

Bolt, To : to break away from a political 
party. 


[Bond 

Bolt from the blue, A : a sudden and 
surprising event, like a thunder- 
bolt from the sky. [Horace, I 
Ode, xxxiv, 5-8 ; Virgil, JEneid, IX, 
630] 

Bolt-upright : as straight as a bolt or 
an arrow. ' Upright ’ orig. meant 
straight, not necessarily vertical. 

Bolus, A : a dispensing chemist. After 
the bolus which he dispenses. 

Bomba : Ferdinand II of Naples and 
Sicily {1810-59) On account of his 
having bombarded his people. See 
also Bombalino. 

Bombalino or Bomba n : Francis II, the 
last king of the two Sicilies (1836-94). 
See Bomba. 

Bombast : empty boasting. From Low 
Lat., hombax, cotton, which was 
formerly used for stuffing clothing, to 
give a deceptive appearance of a fine 
figure. 

Bombastes Furioso, A : a boaster and 
employer of long words. After the 
hero of a play so-entitled by W. B. 
Rhodes (1772-1826). 

Bon mot, A(-f'>.,good saying) : an epigram, 
witty saying, or repartee. [First used 
in English by Jonathan Swift,] 

Bon ton (Fr,) : good style ; fashionable 
society. [Chesterfield, Letters, Bk. II, 
No. 20 (1747)] 

Bon vivant, A {Fr,, living well) : a 
gourmet; one devoted to comforts, 
esp. of the table. 

Bon voyage ! {Fr., a good journey to 

you !) [15th cent.] 

Bona fide {Lat.) : in good faith ; genuine. 
Orig. a legal term. [Rob. Wilson, 
Three Ladies of London, II, 1. 931 

(1584)] 

Bona Roba, A : a loose woman. Ital., 
buona roba, good dress ; attractive 
clothing being customary with Italian 
courtesans. [Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV, 
III, ii, 267 {1597-8)] 

Bona Socia, A : a boon companion. 

Bonanza, A : a stroke of luck. After 
the Bonanza silver-mine in Nevada 
which was at first considered a failure 
but which suddenly produced im- 
mense wealth. 

Bonanza State : Nevada. After its 
rich Bonanza mines. 

Bond, To have one’s : to have one's legal 
rights no matter how the other party 
to the transaction may be afiected. In 
allusion to one of the main incidents 
of the plot of Shakespeare, Merchant 
of Venice (1596). 



57 


Bone] 

Bone» To : to filch ; to seize as a dog 
seizes a bone. [Shakespeare, 2 Henry 
VI, I, iii, (1593), where ‘bone* 
is used in the sense of finger] 

Bone, To bite near the : to be grasping. 
[Geo. Cavendish, Life and Death of 
Wolsey (1537)] 

Bone, To boil a : see Boil. 

Bone of one’s bone and flesh of one’s 
Hesh : closely related, of the same 
family. {Ge^iesis, ii, 23] 

Bone of contention, A : a cause of 
difference or dispute, as a bone between 
two dogs. [Lambarde, Peramhula- 
tion of Kent (1576)] 

Bone in one’s leg. To have a : an excuse, 
frequently given to children for re- 
fraining from exertion. 

Bone to pick with . . To have a : to 
have cause for recriminatory dis- 
cussion with . . [Calfhill, A newer e to 
the Treatise of the Crosse, 277 (1565)] 

Bone in one’s throat. To have a : an 
excuse for not answering a ques- 
tion. 

Bones to one’s ass. To give straw to 
one’s dog and : see Give. 

Bones, To break no : to do no harm. 
[Goldsmith, The Good-natured Man, 
m, i, (1768)] 

Bones of . . To make no : to have no 
hesitation. Orig., to find no bones 
{i,e., obstruction) in. \The Paston 
Letters, 331, I (1422-1509)] 

Bones, To make old : to live to a good 
old age. 

Bone-lace : a kind of lace made by 
means of bobbins of bone. 

Bone-setter, A : a surgeon. [Brome, 
Queen and Concubine (1659)] 

Bone-shaker, A : (i) a bicycle without 
rubber tyres ; in allusion to the rough 
course it pursues when ridden ; (2) a 

four-wheeled cab. 

Boney : Napoleon I. A term used by 
the English, contracted from the 
surname Buonaparte. 

Bonhomme, A : a member of a branch 
of the Order of Franciscans. The 
term ‘ Bon Homme * (good man) was 
applied to their founder, St. Francis 
de Paule, by Louis XI of France. 

Bonhomme, Jacques : see Jacques Bon- 
homme. 

Boniface, A : the host of an inn, esp. 
a good-tempered, cheery one. After 
(i) a character in Farquhar’s Beaux* 
Stratagem (1707} ; or possibly (2) 
Pope Boniface, who granted indulgences 
to all who drank the Pope's health. 


[Book 

Boniface’s Cup, St. : a glass of wine at 
the conclusion of a meal ; in allusion 
to the indulgence granted by Pope 
Boniface to all who drank the Pope’s 
health on the conclusion of a meal 
after grace. 

Bonne Bouche {Fr., a good mouth) : a 
dainty morsel ; an unexpected stroke 
of luck. 

Bonnet, A Blue : see Blue Caps. 

Bonnet Rouge (Fr,) A : (i) the red Cap 
of Liberty, emblem of Republicanism, 
introduced at the first French Revolu- 
tion; (2) a Republican. 

Bonnet-piece, A : a Scotch gold coin on 
which King James V was depicted 
wearing a bonnet. 

Bonnet, To have a green : to have failed 
in business. After the French custom 
until as late as the 17th cent, of 
obliging bankrupts to wear green 
headgear. 

Bonnet, To play the : to act as a decoy 
for rogues. Because he blinds his 
dupes just as if he knocks their hats 
over their eyes. 

Bonnet, To v^e the : to take ofi one’s 
hat to . . [Lilly, Endimion, III, iii 

{1591)] 

Bono Johnny : John Bull. Current in 
the East Indies. 

Bontemps, A Roger : (Fr., rouge bon 
temps, reddish and fair weather) : a 
cheery optimist; a free boon com- 
panion. [Jas. Howell, Familiar 
Letters, Bk. IV, Letter xix (c. 1647)] 

Booby-trap, A : a practical joke, played 
by schoolboys. 

Boodle : (i) a number of people ; used 
contemptuously ; (2) money used for 
bribery (American). 

Book, A : an arrangement of bets by a 
bookmaker whereby he is almost 
certain to win on the whole. 

Book and Candle, Bell : see Bell. 

Book, Blue : see Blue Book. 

Book in Breeches, A : Lord Macaulay 
(1800-59). So-called by Sydney Smith, 
on account of his wide knowledge. 

Book of Books, The : the Bible. 

Book of Hours, A : see Hours. 

Book of Idiots, A : a picture. [Bp. 
J oseph Hall, Characters : Premonition 
(1608)] 

Book of Life, The : the record of those 
who are to be for ever blessed. 
[Revelations, xx, 12] 

Book of the Four Kings, The : a pack of 
cards. [Rabelais, Gargantua and 
Pantagruel, I, 22 (1532)] 



Book] 5^ 

Book, The : the Bible, fiath cent.] 

Book, The People of the : the Jews. 
So-called by Mahomet. 

Book, To bring to : to bring to account. 

Book, To spe& by the : to speak with 
punctilious care for the accuracy of 
one's statements. 

Book, To speak like a : to be well pro- 
vided with and free of infonration. 

Book, To speak without ; to speak with- 
out authority; to speak extempor- 
aneously. [Hy. Porter, Two Angry 
Women of Abington, 1. 1576 (1599)] 

Book, To suit one’s : to fall in with one’s 
arrangements. A betting metaphor. 
See Book, A. 

Book, To write without one’s : to speak 
or write without knowledge. 

Books, Out of one’s : no longer in 
favour. From the early practice of 
entering the names of one’s retainers 
in a book. It was also customary to 
enter one’s friends’ names in a book. 

Books, To be in a person’s bad : to be out 
of favour with a person. 

Books, To be in a person’s good : to be 
in favour with a person. From the 
early practice of entering the names 
of one’s retainers and servants in a 
book. It was also customary to enter 
one’s friends’ names in a book, 

Book-maker, A : a betting agent who 
selects the bets he accepts and arranges 
them in a book so that in no circum- 
stances is he likely to suffer loss. See 
Book, A. 

Bookworm, A ; a person devoted to 
reading. Lit., a maggot which makes 
its home in books and eats into them. 
According to Revelations, x, 9, the 
angel, in giving St. John the book 
wiQi the seven seals, said, * Take it, 
and eat it up ; and it shall make thy 
belly bitter, but it shall be in thy 
mouth sweet as honey.’ 

Boom, To ; Boom, A : (a commercial 
term) (a) to burst into favour with the 
public ; (5) a sudden great demand for 
a commodity, a sudden great success. 

A nautical metaphor, popularized in 
this country and in U.S. in 1879. 

Boom, To top one’s : to depart. A 
nautical metaphor. 

Boon companion, A : a cheerful, jovial 
companion. Lit., good {Fr., bon) 
companion. [Thomas Drant, A 
Medicindble Mcrall (1566)] 

Boost, To : to assist upwards. An 
Americanism. 

Bopt forth. To ; to go out ; sally forth. 


[Borough 

Boot to be on the other leg, The : the 

responsibility to be transferred to the 
other party. 

Boot, To get the : to be dismissed ; 
kicked out. 

Boots, To go to bed in one’s : to be very 
drunk. 

Boot-jack : see Jack, 

Booty, To play : to give a person in the 
first instance a slight advantage so as 
ultimately to derive a far greater 
advantage from him, [Cartwright, 
Roy all Slave (1631)] 

Borachio, A : a drunkard. Used by 
Shakespeare [Much Ado (i599)]» and a 
little earlier by Stony hurst in Aineis 
for a wine-bottle, the Span, for which 
is horracho. 

Borak at, To poke: to deceive; to 
supply with false news. A Colonial 
phrase. 

Border, The : the frontier between 
England and Scotland. 

Border Eagle State, The: Mississippi. 
After the Border Eagle in its coat of 
arms. 

Border Minstrel, The : Sir Walter Scott, 
many of whose poems relate to the 
Border. 

Border States : Delaware, Ma^land, 
Virginia, Kentuclcy, Missouri, the 
States bordering on the Free States 
prior to the Amer, Civil War. North 
Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas are 
also included sometimes. 

Borderer, A ; one who lives near the 
boundary between two States, esp. 
England and Scotland. 

Boreal : northern. From Boreas, the 
god of the north wind. 

Bom in the purple : of royal or imperial 
birth. From (i) the official colour of 
the Roman emperors ; or (2) the 
decorations of the room prepared by 
one of the Roman empresses for her 
accouchement. See Purple. 

Bom with a silver spoon in the mouth : 

see Silver Spoon. 

Borough English : a custom in the South 
of England by which manorial estates 
are inherited by younger sons. From 
Old-French, Tenure en Burgh Engloys 
(tenure in an English borough), the 
custom having been prevalent in 
certain English towns, but not in 
France. 

Borough, A pocket : a borough carrying 
representation in Parliament owned, 
together with its representation, for 
practical purposes by an individual. 



Borouirh] 59 

Borough, A rottou ; a Parliamentary 
borough, which had so degenerated 
through loss of population as to be 
practically in the hands of one 
person. 

Borrell folk ; unlearned people. Middle- 
English, barrel, belonging to the laity, 
coarse cloth. 

Borrowed plumes, lu : disguised ; 
assuming a position superior to that 
which one really holds. [Lucian, 
Prendolog, 5 ; Webster and Dekker, 
Westward Hoe, II, ii (1607)] 

Bosch (Boch) butter : margarine. From 
s'Hertogenbosch (or Bois-le-Duc), in 
Holland, where the manufacture was 
carried on. 

Bosh : nonsense. From the Turkish for 
empty, vain. Introduced from J. J. 
Morier's Turkish novel, (1834), 

and his The Adventures of Hajji Baba 
of Ispahan (1824). 

Bosom, A bird in one’s : see Bird. 

Bosom, In one’s : secretly. 

Bosom, To be in a person’s : to be in his 
secrets. [Terence, Adelphi, II. 707-9 ; 
Shakespeare, Julius Casar, V, i (1601)] 

Bosom, To creep into a person’s : to get 
into his confidence. [Rich. Edwards, 
Damon and Pithias, 1. 474 (1567)] 

Bosom sermons : written sermons, as 
opposed to sermons delivered extem- 
pore or from notes. 

Bosom-friend, A : an especially close 
friend. [Greene, Never Too Laie (1590)] 

Boss, A : (i) a workingman's term for 
his employer, master; (2) in Amer. 
politics, the head of a caucus. Dutch, 
baas, master (earlier, uncle). 

Boss rule ; control by a boss. Phrase 
invented by Wayne MacV eagh (b. 1833). 

Boss the show. To : to occupy a con- 
trolling position in an undertaking. 
The slang word ' to boss ' i.e., * to 
miss,’ is of different origin. 

Boston Tea Party, The : the destruction 
in Boston Harbour (Dec, 16, 1773) of 
a number of chests of tea by disguised 
citizens as a protest against the 
British proposal to tax the Amer. 
colonists. 

Boswell to . . To play : to write a 
biography rich in personal details, and 
in order to fit oneself for the task to 
be in constant close attendance on the 
subject of the biography; as was 
James Boswell (1740-95), the bio- 
grapher of Dr. Samuel Johnson. 

Boswellian : of biography, extremely 
intimate and detailed. 


[Boule 

Botany Bay : a place of exile for con- 
victs, From the name of an inlet on 
the coast of New South Wales, to 
which convicts were orig. sent in 1787. 

Botany Bay dozen, A : twenty lashes of 
the ' cat.’ 

Botley Assizes : a reference to the 
tradition that the men of Botley once 
hanged a man because he could not 
drink as deeply as his neighbours. 

Bottle-holder, A : (i) a second, or 

supporter, in a prize-fight; one who 
holds the bottle out of which to give 
the pugilist refreshment ; (2) a second 
or moral supporter, generally. In 
1851 Punch depicted Lord Palmerston 
as the bottle-holder of oppressed 
States. 

Bottle-washer, A : one who makes him- 
self generally useful in menial duties ; 
a general factotum. 

Bottom dollar, One’s (Amer.) : one’s last 
coin. 

Bottom drawer. The : an imaginary 
drawer in which is preserved the 
provision made from time to time by a 
prudent mother for the future 
trousseau of her daughter. 

Bottom of one’s heart. Prom the : un- 
reservedly. [John Bale, God*s 
Promises, V (1522)] 

Bottom out of . • To knock the : to 

demolish the last resistance of . . 

Bottom, To play : to be overweeningly 
conceited. After Nick Bottom, the 
weaver, a character in Shakespeare, 
Midsummer Night* s Dream (1590). 

Bottom, To touch : to fall to the lowest 
point of one’s fortunes. A nautical 
phrase. 

Bottomless pit. The : Hell. [James I, 
A Counierblaste to Tobacco (1604)] 
Bough on which one is sitting, To saw off 
the : to deprive a person of support. 
[Cicero, P. Scauro'] 

Bougie, A (Fr., bougie, candle) : a 
surgical instrument. From Bugia, a 
town of N. Africa which exported 
wax. 

Bouguereau auality : extreme refine- 
ment, almost to ^eminacy, in art and 
literature. After A. W. Bouguereau 
(1825-1905), French painter. 

Boulangist, A : a follower of Gen. 
Boulanger (1837-91), Fr. reactionary 
politician. 

Boule (Grk., dissyllable) : the Grk. 
Parliament. The name of the Senate, 
or Council, of ancient Athens. 

Boule : see Buhl. 



Bounce] 6o 

Bounce : swagger ; impudence. [Steele, 
The Lying Lover (1704)] 

Boundary, To go beyond the : to die. 

Bounder, A : a pretentious vulgar man 
assuming a social position he does not 
possess by nature ; a 'cad.* 

Bountiful, Lady : a kind-hearted gen- 
erous lady. After a character in 
Farquhar, The Beaux* Stratagem {1707). 

Bourbon, A ; (i) a person who fails to 
profit by experience ; (2) a member of 
an Amer. political party ; ‘ a Democrat 
behind the age and unteachable.* 
After the French Royal Family, which 
was said to learn nothing and to forget 
nothing. 

Bourgeois : (i) middle-class ; unin- 

inspired ; conventional ; [Horace 
Walpole, Letters, VI (1775)] (2) a 

size of printing t)rpe. After a French 
printer or type founder. 

Bourgeoisie, The: the middle classes, 
especially the trading classes. From 
Fr. bourgeois, a citizen or freeman of a 
borough. 

Bourne whence no traveller returns, The: 

death. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, i, 
(i6o2)J 

Bourse, A : a stock exchange ; a centre 
for financial business. From the name 
of the family of Van der Burse of 
Bruges, whose coat of arms included 
a purse (bourse). The earliest ex- 
change building was erected at Bruges. 

Boustiapa: a nickname for Napoleon III. 
Coined from Boulogne, Strasbourg and 
Paris, the scenes of his three coups 
d*itat, the last only of which was 
successful. 

Bouts-rini6s (Fr., rh3nned ends) : 
rhymed endings of lines, from which 
verse was constructed. 

Bow and scrape. To : to salute with 
much obeisance. The scraping refers to 
the drawing back of the foot in making 
the obeisance. [Earle, Microcosmogra- 
phy : A Plaine Country Fellow (1628)] 

Bow at a venture. To draw a : to make 
an intentionally random remark or 
efiort on the chance that it may go 
home. [I Kings, xxii, 3^j] 

Bow Bells, To be bom within sound of : 
to be a cockney, i.e., bom within the 
City of London. From the Church of 
St, Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, in the 
centre of the City. 

Bow Street Runners : police-officers in 
charge of warrants oi arrest, attached 
to Bow Street Police Court, London, 
in the late i8th and 19th cents. 


[Boxer 

Bow, To draw the long : to exaggerate. 
From the marvellous stories formerly 
told of the skill of archers with the 
long-bow, and the feats of Robin Hood 
and his foresters. {^The Spectator, 
No. 538 (1712)] 

Bow, To have two strings to one’s : to 

have two alternative courses open to 
one. [Hey wood, Proverbes, 30 (1546)] 

Bow to , . To make one’s ; to introduce 
oneself to . . [Peter Pindar, Subjects 
for Painters (17 — )] 

Bow up at the castle, To have a famous : 

to be a great braggart. 

Bow-hand, To be too much of the : to 
fail in a design. Metaphor drawn 
from archery. The bow-hand, that 
which held the bow, was the left 
hand. 

Bow-wow way, A : a haughty, over- 
bearing manner. Term invented by 
the tenth Earl of Pembroke (1734-94), 
in allusion to Dr. Samuel Johnson. 

Bowdlerize, To : to expurgate a book so 
as to render it unobjectionable for 
family use. After Thos. Bowdler 
(1754-1825), Editor of The Family 
Shakespeare. 

Bowels, To have no : to be without 
mercy. From the former belief that 
the bowels were the seat of the 
quality of mercy. [Wm. Penn, Some 
Fruits of Solitude, Pt. I, §534 (1718)] 

Bowie-knife, A : a hunting-knife, useful 
also as a weapon. After Jas. Bowie, 
the Amer. inventor (1796-1836). 

Bowl, The flowing : the bowl (of wine). 

Bowled out. To be : to be defeated ; to 
be put out of action. A cricket 
metaphor. 

Bowler, A : a round hard-felt hat. 
From its resemblance to a bowl. 

Box and Cox arrangement, A : an 
arrangement whereby a room is 
occupied by one person during the day 
and another at night. After the title 
of a comedy by J. Morton (1811-91). 

Box, Christmas, A : see Christmas. 

Box the compass, To : to turn round 
completely. A nautical metaphor. 
Properly, to repeat the names of the 
several points of the compass in their 
correct order. 

Box, To be in the wrong : (of people; to 
be out of place ; in a wrong position. 
[Heywood , Proverbes (1546)] 

Boxer, A : a member of a Chinese secret 
society formed for the expulsion of 
Europeans. Properly, a member ot 
the League of United Patriots, which 



oby] 6i 

by a play upon words (Chinese) 
becaine known as a Boxer. [In 
common use in 1900] 

Boy Bishop, A : a boy elected by his 
companions to act as bishop from St. 
Nicholas’ Day (Dec. 6) to Innocents 
Day (Dec. 28). St. Nicholas was the 
Patron Saint of scholars. 

Boy in buttons, A : see Buttons. 

Boy with the bird-bolt, The: Cupid. 
The bird-bolt was a short, thick arrow 
without point. 

Boys, Roaring : younger members of the 
aristocracy who used to frequent the 
streets seeking quarrels and annoying 
inoffensive citizens. [Originated in 
the reign of James I] 

Boyar, A : a Russian noble. Orig. a 
member of a non-hereditary class 
attached to the Court. The Order 
was abolished by Peter the Great, but 
still survives in Roumania. 

Boycott, To : to decline, for political 
reasons, to supply goods to, or have 
any intercourse with. After Chas. 
Cunningham Boycott (1832-97), first 
to be * boycotted ’ under the Irish 
Nationalist ' Plan of Campaign ’ of 
1880. 

B.P,, The ; the British Public ; esp. in 
theatrical and journalistic slang. 

Brahanconne, La : the Belgian national 
hymn, composed on the occasion of the 
Revolution of 1830 ; named from the 
Province of Brabant, 

Brace of shakes. In a : in a moment. 

Bradbury, A ; a British Treasury Note ; 
after Sir John Bradbury, the Secretary 
to the Treasury, a replica of whose 
autograph was printed upon each note. 

Brag, To : to boast ; lit., to make a loud 
noise like a trumpet. 

Brag, Jack : a braggart. From the hero 
of a novel of that name by Theodore 
Hook (1837). 

Braggadocio, A : a boaster ; also as an 
adjective, boasting. A pseudo-Italian 
word, formed from ' brag.’ In 
Spenser, Faerie Queen, Braggadocchio 
is the personification of bragging and 
cowardice. 

Bragi’s Apples : fruit that refreshes but 
is not diminished ; an immediate cure 
for weariness. After Bragi, in Scand. 
mj^hology, the inventor of poetry. 

Brad’s Stojy : a long story, but full of 
interest. 

Brahminism : a social system in which 
priests are given great authority and 
power. After Brahmin, a member of 


[Brass 

the highest or priestly caste among 
the Hindus. 

Braidism : hypnotism as practised by 
Dr. James Braid (1795-1860). 

Braille : a form of type consisting of 
raised dots to enable the blind to read 
by touch. After Louis Braille, 
the French inventor, (1809-52). 

Brain, To bear a : to exert one’s mental 
faculties. [Shakespeare, Romeo and 
Juliet, I, iii (1591)] 

Brain, Bitten to the : see Bitten. 

Brain, To have . . on the : to be over- 
devoted to . . , obsessed by . . (some 
interest or hobby). 

Brain, To turn a person’s : to render a 
person insane, to arouse an all- 
absorbing enthusiasm in a person. 
[SirS. Tuke, Adventures of Five Hours, 
III (1663)] 

Brains, To pick a person’s : to extract 
from another the fruit of his 
thought. 

Brain-bos ; Brain-pan, A : the cranium. 
[Latter form used in 14th cent.] 

Brake, To take a person in a : to take a 
person at a disadvantage. [Geo. 
Cavendish, Life md Death of Wolsey 

(1557)] 

Bram^ loc& (press, etc.), A : after the 
inventor Joseph Bramah (1748-1814). 

Brambles grow, To sedi figs where only : 

see Seek. 

Bran it is Bran’s brother, If not : a 
complimentary remark ; ‘ as good as 
the best.’ Bran was the dog of Fin gal, 
the Gaelic hero. 

Bran-(Brand-)new : perfectly new ; 
showing clearly the brand of the 
maker. A.-S., brurtd, a torch. 

Brand snatched from the burning, A : a 
rescued soul. 

Brandy Nan : Queen Anne. A name 
given to her by Londoners on account 
of her alleged addiction to brandy. 

Branghton, A : a vulgar, malicious, 
jealous person. After a family of that 
name in Fanny Burney, Evelina 
(1778). 

Brantdme, A : a writer of scandalous 
biographical anecdotes. From the 
title (Seigneur de Brantome) of Pierre 
de Bourdeilles (d. 1614), a Gascon 
biographer and writer of anecdotes. 

Brass : (i) effrontery ; assurance ; 

[Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, V, 
ii, 395 (1588)] (2) money; formerly 

copper or bronze coin. [T5mdale’s 
Matthew, x, 9 ; Shakespeare, Henry V, 
IV, iv (1599)] 



62 


Brass] 

Brass Band, The Pope’s : the Irish 
opponents of the Ecclesiastical Titles 
Bill of 1851. 

Brass, As hold as : see Bold. 

Brass farthing. Not to care a : to care 
nothing. [J. S., Andromana, I, i 
(1660)] 

Bravado {Span.) : boastful behaviour, 
either as a sign of extreme courage or 
as a pretence to cover timidity. 
[Hakluyt, Voyages, II (1582)] 

Brave des braves, Le pins ; The bravest 
of the brave : (i) Marshal Ney (1769- 
1815), a title given to him by Napoleon 
during the Russian campaign ; (2) 
the same title was given by Henri IV 
of France to Gen. Louis de Balbe de 
Crillon (1541-1615). 

Bravo, A {Ital., a brave man) : a bully ; 
a hired assassin. [Daniel, Civil Wars, 
III, Ixxii (1597)] 

Bray, Vicar of : see Vicar. 

Brazil : a kind of hard wood ; a dye 
made from the Bra2il wood. 

Brazil, As hard as : supposed to be an 
allusion to copper, formerly known as 
brass, or iron pyrites once used for 
striking lights and therefore considered 
a symbol for hardness. 

Bread and butter, To auarrel with one’s : 
to be dissatisfied with one’s earnings 
and act in a manner that will jeopardize 
even them. [Swift (Simon Wagstaff), 
Polite Conversation, Dial. I (1738)] 

Bread and butter Miss, A: A girl of 
about 16 or 17 ; a High-school girl. 

Bread and cheese : the minimum necessi- 
ties of life. 

Bread and salt. To take : to swear. 
Bread and salt, the two chief 
necessaries of life, were in ancient days 
regarded as giving solemnity to an oath. 

Bread is buttered. To know on which 
side one’s : to know where one’s 
interests lie. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Bread of affliction : see Afliction. 

Bread of idleness, To eat the ; to neglect 
to support oneself. 

Bread out of a person’s mouth, To take 
the : to deprive a person of his 
livelihood. 

Bread upon the waters. To cast (scatter) : 
to perform a small act in the hope or 
expectation of a disproportionate 
result. [Ecclesiastes, xi i]. "^en 
the Nile overflows its banks rice-seed 
is thrown into its overflow, and when 
the waters subside the se^ is found 
to have taken root. 


[Brick 

Break a butterfly on the wheel. To : to 

use an instrument far more powerful 
than necessary for one’s purpose. A 
reference to the former method of 
execution by breaking a person’s body 
on a wheel. [Pope, Epistle to Dr. 
Arbuthnot, 1. 308 (1735)] 

Break a person’s heart, To : to cause a 
person irremovable grief. [Acts, xxi, 
13 ; Shakespeare, The Rape of Lttcrece, 

1238-9 (1593-4)] 

Break the ice. To : to open a conversa- 
tion or other undertaking. 

Break the neck of. . To : to overcome the 
first difficulties in an enterprise. 

Breakers ahead : difficulties in front of 
one, A nautical metaphor. 

Breakfast-table, Autocrat of the : see 
Autocrat. 

Breast of . . To make a clean : to make 
a complete confession ot . . 

Breath, To slip one’s : to die. [Peter 
Pindar, Odes of Importance : Old 
Simon (1792)] 

Breeches Bible, The : the Eng. or 
Genevan Bible of 1560, in which 
Genesis, iii, 7, reads ’ and they sewed 
figge-tree leaves together, and made 
themselves breeches.’ 

Breeches, To wear the : said of a wife 
who masterfully controls her husband 
even in details. [Les Quinze Joyes de 
Mariage : La Dixie me Joye (1450) ; 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Bxentano, A : an extremely foolish 
person. From a Germ, proverb. 

Brentford, The Old Woman of : a witch. 
After a famous witch of Brentford 
around whom several ballads were 
composed. 

Brentford, Two Kings of : two persons 
who act exactly alike. After characters 
in the Duke of Buckingham, The 
Rehearsal (1672). 

Brevier : a style of type orig. used for 
printing the Roman Catholic Breviary. 

Briareus of Languages, The : Guiseppe 
Caspar, Cardinal Mezzofanti (1774- 
1849), v/ho Imew 58 languages. In 
Homer Iliad, Briareos was a giant 
with 50 heads and 100 hands. 

Briars, To be in the : to be in a difficulty. 
[Terence in English (1614)] 

Bric-a-brac : portable objects of anti- 
quarian and artistic interest. From 
de brie et de broc, by hook or by crook ; 
possibly referring to the means by 
which bric-a-brac is usually collected. 

Brick, A : a good fellow ; one to be 
depended upon. From the descrip- 



Brick] 63 

tion of the men of his army by 
Agesilaus, King of Sparta, when 
asked where his walled fortifications 
were. 

Brick, To drop a : to make a foolish 
mistake. 

Brick wall, To run one’s head against a : 
to follow a course obstinately which 
must obviously lead to failure. 

Bricks without straw, To make : to 
attempt a task which is impossible in 
consequence of the absence of an indis- 
dispensable tool or material. From 
the task of the Israelites as described 
in Exodus, v. 

Brickdusts, The : the ist King’s Shrop- 
shire Light Infantry, formerly 53rd 
Foot. On account of the colour of 
their facings. 

Bride of the Seas, The : Venice. In 
allusion to the Marriage of the 
Adriatic [q.v.). 

Bride-ale, A : a wedding-feast. ' Ale/ 
in the sense of a rural festival. 

Bride-bush, A : a bush hung out at a 
village ale-house in honour of a 
wedding. 

Bride-stake, A : a pole set up in a village 
to dance round at a wedding. 

Bridewell, A : a prison. After the 
palace near St. Bride’s Well in London, 
used as a prison by Edward VI. 

Bridewell-man, A : a gaoler. 

Bridge of gold for . . To make a : to 
give a man an opportunity of with- 
drawing from a position without loss 
of dignity. 

Bridge over the sea. To build a : to 
attempt a futile task. From an 
ancient Grk. proverb. 

Bridge of Sighs : a covered bridge 
connecting the Doge’s palace and the 
prison at Venice. Across it were 
taken prisoners for trial or judgment. 

Bridget, A : see Biddy, A. 

Bridgeting : obtaining money by false 
or other underhand pretences from the 
ignorant, esp. those of the servant- 
girl class {see Bridget) . Irish servant- 
girls in the U.S. have subscribed 
largely, with more or less understand- 
ing, to the funds of Irish political 
movements. 

Bri^ewater Treatises, The : a series of 
eight treatises written in accordance 
with the will of Francis Henry, Earl of 
Bridgewater (1756-1829), for the 
foundation of which he bequeathed 
3^8,000. The writers selected by the 
President of the Royal Society, the 


[Bristol 

Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
Bishop of London were Dr. Thomas 
Chalmers, Dr. John Kidd, Dr. Wm. 
Whewell, Sir Charles Bell, Peter Mark 
Roget, Dr. Wm. Buckland, Wm. 
Kirby, Dr. Wm. Prout, and the subject 
of the treatises, * The Power, Wisdom 
and Goodness of God as manifested in 
the Creation.’ 

Bridle, To bite on the : to sufier great 
hardship. The bridle was the instru- 
ment formerly employed in the punish- 
ment of a scold. 

Bridport dagger, A : a hangman’s rope. 
Hempen goods were formerly mainly 
manufactured at Bridport. 

Brieve of Furiosity, A : an inquiry into 
a person’s sanity. In Scottish law, 
brieve, a writ issued in Chancery. 

Brigand, A : a bandit ; an armed robbe^*. 
Ital., hrigante, an irregular foot-soldier. 
From Briga, a border-town near Nice. 

Bright as the day. As ; [Chaucer, Canter- 
bury Tales (14th cent.)] 

Bright’s Disease: a disease of the 
kidneys. After Dr. Richard Bright 
(1789-1858), who investigated it. 

Brighton of Scotland, The : St. Andrews. 

BriUat-Savarin, A : an expert in 
gastronomy ; a bon-vivant. After 
A. Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), author 
of La Physiologie du Gout. 

Brilliant Madman, The : Charles XII of 
Sweden. 

Bring Down the House, To : to induce 
very great applause (in a theatre). 
Bring one’s machines after the war is 
over, To : to act in a futile manner ; 

' to lock the stable-door after the steed 
is stolen.* From an ancient Grk. 
proberb. 

Briny, On the : on the ocean. 

Brioche, A : a small fancy loaf ; a 
blunder. From the remark attributed 
to the daughter of Louis XVI, when 
she learnt that the people were starving 
for lack of bread : * Si le peuple n’a 
pas de pain, qu’il mange des brioches.’ 

‘ If the people have no bread, let them 
eat brioches.* 

Brisle dice : false dice. From the 
bristles inserted in them to influence 
their fall. 

Bristol, A : a visiting-card ; formerly 
made of Bristol board {q^v.). 

Bristol board, A : drawing-paper 
moimted on a thin board; formerly 
made at Bristol. 

Bristol Boy, The : Thomas Chatterton of 
Bristol (1752-70), poet. 



Bristol] 64 

Bristol fashion, In : in good order. 
Referring to the days when Bristol was 
almost the principal Eng. port. 

Bristol man’s gift, A : a gift of something 
that has no value to the giver. 

Bristol Milk : sherry, a wine formerly 
imported via Bristol. 

Bristol Stones (Diamonds) : brilliant 
stones, found near Bristol and used 
for cheap jewellery. 

British Aristides, The : Andrew Marvell 
(1621-78). After Aristides the Just 
(c. 530-468 B.C.), the Athenian states- 
man and general. 

British Common, The : the sea. 

British Cuvier, The ; Sir Richard Owen 
(1804-92). After G. L. C. Cuvier 
(1769-1832), a distinguished French 
naturalist. 

British Jeremiah, The : Gild as (516-570), 
British historian. So-called by Gibbon. 

British lion’s tail, To twist : s&c Lion’s tail. 

British Solomon, The : James I. king of 
Great Britain. 

Britisher, A : a citizen of the United 
Kingdom. Introduced and orig. used 
in the U.S. as a term of derision or 
contempt. 

Brittle as glass, As : very fragile, easily 
broken. [Mirror for Magistrates, 179 

(1559)] 

Broad Arrow, A : a sign of British 

Government ownership. After the 
broad arrow-head marked on British 
Government stores, convicts, etc. 
Orig. the sign of Henry, Earl of 
Romney (1641-1704), Master-General 
of the Ordnance. 

Broad as long, As : of two means, both 
leading to the same end. 

Broad Bottom (ed) Ministry, The : the 
ministry formed by Henry Pelham in 
1744. So-called because it included 
representatives of all Parties. 

Broad Church, The : the Liberal school 
in the Church of England, which holds 
that the Church should be tolerant, and 
embrace wide differences of opinion. 
[First used at Oxford about 1850] 

Broad Piece, A : a sovereign (20s.) 
Used after 1663 to distinguish the coin 
from the guinea then introduced, 
which was a more compact coin. 

Broadbrim, A : a quaker. From the 
style of hat formerly worn by members 
of the Society of Friends. 

Brobdi(n)gnag(ian) : huge; immense. 
After the monstrous race of giants 
inhabiting Brobdingnag, in Swift, 
Gullivers Travels (1726). 


[Brother 

Brocard, A : a maxim. After Brocard. 
Bp. of Worms (nth cent.), who made 
a collection of ecclesiastical canons. 

Broken beer : the unconsumed residue 
of beer left in the glass. 

Broken English (etc.), To speak : to 
speak English or other language un- 
grammatically and with a foreign 
accent. [Lyly, Euphues and his 
England (1580)] 

Broken meat ; remnants of food left after 
a meal. [Chapman, May Day (1611)] 

Broken posts, To erect : see Erect, 

Broken reed, A : see Reed. 

Broker, The Honest : see Honest. 

Brooks of Sheffield : an assumed name 
used when it is not desired to mention 
the real one. After an imaginary , 
character in Dickens, David Copper- 
field (1849). 

Broom, Dame (Mrs.) Partington’s : 55^: 

Partington. 

Broom sweeps clean, A new : a person 
newly appointed to an office starts his 
career with exceptional assiduity which 
does not endure. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Broth of a boy, A : an Irish colloquialism 
for a high-spirited, good-natured 
young fellow. Irish, hrotha, passionate. 

Brother Bung : a publican. In allusion 
to the bung of a beer-barrel. 

Brother Chip : one of the same trade. 
Properly, a fellow-carpenter. 

Brother Jonathan : the popular name 
for a citizen of the U.S. Said to have 
arisen from Washington calling 
Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of 
Connecticut, ' Brother.’ 

Brother of the Angle, A : a member of 
the comm, on wealth of anglers. [Isaac 
Walton, The Compleat Angler, Pt. I, 
ch. I (1653)] 

Brother of the Blade, A : a soldier ; 
anyone of the same calling as the 
speaker. 

Brother of the Brush, A : a fellow-artist. 

Brother of the Buskin, A : an actor. 
From the buskins worn by tragedy- 
actors in ancient times. 

Brother of the Coif, A : a sergeant-at- 
law. From the coif or close-fitting 
cap worn by him. 

Brother of the Quill, A : a member of 
the commonwealth of letters. [The 
Spectator, No. 552 (1712)] 

Brother of the String, A : a fiddler. 

Brother of the Sword, A : a soldier. 
[Dryden, Epistle to Mr. Lee, 11. 7 and 8 

(1677)] 



Brother] 65 

Brother of the Whip, A : a coachman. 
[The Spectator, No. 498 (1712)] 

Brougham, A : a closed, four-wheeled 
carriage. After Hy., Lord Brougham 
(1778-1868), by whom it was intro- 
duced. 

Broughtonian, A : a pugilist. After John 
Broughton (1705-89), English pugilist. 

Brown Bess : the flint-lock musket, 
formerly in use in the British Army. 
From the brown walnut stock. 

Brown Bess, Married to : having joined 
the army. 

Brown Bill, A : a brown halberd, 
formerly used by foot-soldiers. [Lyly, 
Sapho and Phao, II, iii (1591)] 

Brown George, A : (i) a hard, coarse 
biscuit or bread ; (2) a brown earthen- 
ware vessel. 

Brown, Jones and Robinson : the British 
public in a mass. These surnames are 
the most frequently met with in 
England. Brown, Jones and Robinson 
is the title of Richard Doyle's series of 
humorous Punch drawings depicting 
the adventures of three typical English- 
men on the Rhine and in Italy ; after- 
wards republished in book-form. 

Brown study, A : a reverie. Connected 
with ‘ brown ' in the sense of ' gloomy,’ 
or * brow,’ brain. [The Marriage of 
Wit and Science (1569-70)] 

Browns, To astonish the : to say some- 
thing that shocks the unsophisticated. 

Brown-paper warrants ; warrants that 
can be cancelled at the will of him who 
drew them. A nautical phrase. 

Brownists, The ; the original Congre- 
gationalists, followers of Rob. Browne 
(1550-1630), who seceded from the 
Church of England. 

Bruin : a popular name for* the bear. 
From the fable of Reynard the Fox. 
Dutch, hroun. 

Sruised reed, A ; see Reed. 

Bruiser, A : a prize-fighter. Lit., one 
who bruises. [Horace Walpole, Letters 
to Horace Mann, II, 57 (1744)] 

Brummagem : cheap and showy ; 

counterfeit ; shoddy. A corruption of 
Birmingham, where cheap and spurious 
jewellery, etc., is made. 

Brummagem Protestants : (i) counter- 
feit groats made at Birmingham ; (2) 
supporters of the Exclusion Bill of 
1680. From Birmingham in its 
capacity of a Radical stronghold. 

Brummell, Beau : see Beau. 

Brunch : breakfast and lunch combined. 

A portmanteau wmrd. 


[Buck-horse 

Brunswick, A : a lady’s out-of-door 
costume. After Brunswick, Germany, 
whence they were introduced c. 1750. 

Brunt, To bear the : to support the stress 
of a contest or undertaking. Ice- 
landic, hruni, burning heat. [The 
Louer Wounded of Cupide, 11. 37-40 

(1557)] 

Brutum fulmen {Lat., senseless thunder- 
bolt) : an empty threat. [Pliny, 
Historia Naturalis] 

Brutus, A : a kind of wig worn in the 
early 19th cent. 

Bubble and Squeak : a dish of meat and 
cabbage cooked together. From the 
sounds made by the food in the process 
of cooking. 

Bubble Company (Scheme), A : an un- 
sound Company, of a fraudulent or 
semi-fraudulent character, as un- 
substantial as a bubble. Perhaps 
connected with Middle English, to 
* bubble,’ to cheat. 

Buccaneer, A : a pirate, a freebooter. 
Orig. the pirates of the West Indies, 
who preyed upon the Spanish trade in 
the 17th cent. From Boucan (Carib- 
bean), a place where meat was dried. 
Many of the original buccaneers 
engaged in the occupation of drying 
meat. 

Bucentaur, The : a large ship ; a gaily 
decorated barge. After the ‘ Bucen- 
taur,’ the state barge of Venice. The 
name was probably derived from a 
figure-head, half-man, half-ox. 

Bucephalus, A: a spirited horse. After the 
favourite steed of Alexander the Great. 

Buck, A : a dandy. From buckram, 
which was used in stiffening the dress 
of i8th-cent. men-of-fashion, or from 
to ‘ buck,’ i.e, to wash clothes in lye, 
bucks’ clothes being very carefully 
worked and prepared for wear. 

Buck, To pass the : a phrase used in the 
game of poker, meaning to hand on 
a difficult decision to the next player. 

Buck up. To : to make an effort. Orig. 
a Westminster School term. 

Buck’s hom. To blow the : to profit one- 
self nothing. [Chaucer, Miller’s Tale 

(1393)] 

Buck-eye, A ; an inhabitant of the 
State of Ohio. 

Buck-eye State, The : Ohio. On account 
of the number of its buck-eye or horse- 
chestnut trees. 

Buck-horse, A : a blow on the face. 
After the name of a pugilist. Buck 
(fl. 1732-46). 


F 



66 


Buck-tail] 

Buck-tail, A : orig, a member of the 
Tammany Society of New York ; later 
a member of the Democratic-Republi- 
can Party. 

Buck-tooth, A : a large projecting tooth, 
supposed to be evidence of the male sex. 

Bucket, To kick the : see Kick. 

Bucket Shop, A : the office or business of 
a dealer in stocks and shares who is 
not a member of an authorized Stock 
Exchange. From a gambling-of&ce in 
Chicago to which clients were brought 
in a lift or ‘ bucket.’ 

Buckle and hare thong. To come to : to 
have exhausted one’s means. [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Buckle of one’s belt behind one, To turn 
the: to prepare to fight to a finish. 
[Breton, Poste with a Packet of Mad 
Letters (1637)] 

Buckle, To talk : to talk about marriage. 

Buckle to, To : to enter seriously and 
resolutely into (a work). From the 
process of buckling on a knight’s 
armour for the tournament or for 
battle. [Bacon, Essayes : Of Deluges 
(1625)] 

Buckle-beggar, A (Scot,) : a person who 
performs irregular marriage cere- 
monies. 

Bucklers, To give (yield) the : to admit 
defeat. [Shakespeare, Much Ado 
About Nothing, V, ii (1599) ; Greene, 
Second Part of Coney Catching (1592)] 

Bucklers, To take up the : to issue a 
challenge to combat. [Wm. Rowley, 
A Woman Never Vexed, IV, i (1632)] 

Buckra : superior ; white. The negro’s 
term for a white man. Original mean- 
ing in Calabar language, a demon ; 
whence, powerful, superior. 

Buckram Bag, A : an attorney of a low 
class. On account of the bags carried 
by them. 

Buckram, Man in : see Man in Buckram. 

Bud, To nip in the : see Nip. 

Buddha to play with water, As dangerous 
as for a clay : from a J apanese proverb. 
Japanese children often amuse them- 
selves by making little images of 
Buddha in mud which melt into 
shapelessness if placed in water. 

Budget, The : the annual statement, 
together with estimates, of a Finance 
Minister. Orig. a bag, a despatch- 
box. In the Parliamentary sense 
probably derived from the Minister’s 
despatch -box. First used about 1760. 

Buff or sty. To say : to have a voice in a 
matter. 


[Bull-dog 

Buff, To stand : to stand firm. A nauti- 
cal term. [Butler, Hiidibras' Epitaph 
(1678)] 

Buffs, The : the East Kent Regt. (3rd 
Foot). On account of the former 
colour of their facings. 

Buffs, The Ross-shire : the 2nd Battn. 
Seaforth Highlanders (78th Foot) . On 
account of the colour of their facings. 

Buffer, An old : a good-natured, not over 
intelligent old gentleman. Middle- 
Englisii, buffen, to stammer. 

Buffer-State, A : a small State, whose 
independence is preserved in order that 
it may separate two larger rival states. 
From the contrivance inserted between 
them and thus neutralizing the shock 
when two powerful forces come into 
collision. 

Buffle-head, A : a blockhead. From 
* buffle,’ a stupid person. [.Lady 
Alimony, I, ii {1659)] 

Bugaboo, A : a bogey. 

Bug-bear, A : an object of needless 
terror. From a threat of something 
terrible (apparently a bear) used by 
nurses to frighten their charges. 
Welsh, bwg, a goblin. 

Buhl: an inlay of metal, etc., in fine 
wood, etc., in cabinet-making. After 
Andr6 Boulle (1642-1732), Fr. cabinet- 
maker. 

Build a bridge over the sea. To : see 

Bridge. 

Bulbul, A {Persian) : a singer ; a 
nightingale. 

Bull, A : an absurd verbal blunder, most 
commonly penetrated by Irishmen : 
hence ‘ An Irish Bull.' Said to have 
been derived from Obadiah Bull, an 
Irish lawyer in London in the time of 
Henry VII. 

Bull: (Stock Exchange) see Bear and 
Bull. 

Bull by the horns. To take the : see Take. 

Bull in a china shop : a person who 
causes damage or harm by Ms clumsi- 
ness. 

Bull of Phalaris, A : an instrument of 
torture in the form of a hollow bull of 
brass in which the victims were burnt 
to death. Introduced by Phalaris, 
tyrant of Acragas in Sicily (c. 570- 
554 B.C.) 

Bull to roar. To teach a : see Teach. 

Bull-dog, A : an attendant on a proctor. 
A University term. 

Bull-dog courage : unsubduable courage, 
like that of a bull-dog, which breed 
was formerly employed in bull-baiting. 



[Btinung 


Btin-d02dj 67 


Bull-doze, To : to threaten or bully. 
First used with reference to negro 
voters after the close of the Civil War. 
Lit., to flog with a strip of hide, used by 
drovers to control refractory animals. 

Bull’s-eye : the centre of a military 
target. 

Bull’s-eye, To hit the : see Hit. 

Bulletin, To lie like a : see Lie. 

BuUey-heef : tinned beef. Probably 
from (Fr.) bouilli, boiled. 

Bullion State, The : Missouri. After its 
representative in Congress, Thos. Hart 
Benton, Old Bullion 

Bullyrag, To : to threaten and abuse. 
Possibly derived from ' bully ' or ' bull ' 
and (red) * rag.* 

Bulwark of the North, The : Stirling, 
Scotland ; so-called by Sir Walter 
Scott in The Lady of the Lake {18 10). 

Bum-bailiff, A : a sheriff's of&cer ; one 
who comes up from behind to serve a 
summons. 

Bum-boat, A : a clumsy-looking boat 
employed in taking provisions to a ship. 
Orig. a scavenger's boat on the Thames. 
Name derived either from the shape, or 
from Dutch hon, a box for holding fish. 

Bumble, A : a parish beadle or other 
officer; any pompous, minor official. 
After Mr. Bumble, the beadle, in 
Dickens, Oliver Twist (18^8). 

Bumbledom : (i) petty, fussy officialism ; 
(2) local officials as a class. 

Bummer, A : [Germ, Bummler), a loafer. 
American slang. 

Bumper, A : a glass of wine (etc.) filled 
to the brim ; anything filled to over- 
flowing. 

Bumxkiu, A country ; {Dutch hoomken), 
a fool. An awkward, uncouth rustic. 
[Peter Pindar, Complimentary Epistle 
to James Bruce (1790)] 

Bumptious : ag^essively conceited. 
Apparently a corruption of ' presump- 
tuous.* [Mme. D'Arblay, Diary and 
Letters, VI, 324 (1803)] 

Bunch-dot, A : a farmer. N,-E. Eng. 
dialect, * bunch,* to strike. 

Buncombe : see Bunkum. 

Bunco-steerer, A : a swindler ; a sharp. 
An Americanism. After Bunco (Ital, 
Banco), an American swindling card- 
game. 

Bundesrath : the German Imperial 
Parliament. 

Bung, A : (i) a pickpocket ; a sharper ; 
thieve’s slang, possibly from Anglo- 
Saxon, a purse; (2) a publican; 
from the bung of a beer-barrel. 


Bung, Brother : see Brother. 

Bungalow, A ; a one-storied house. 
Persian, bangalah, a Bengalese (house). 

Bungay with you I Go to : orig. ' Go to 
Bungay and get your breeches 
mended I * Bungay was formerly 
famous for its manufacture of leather- 
breeches. 

Bunk, To : to decamp ; to run away. 

Bunkum ; Buncombe : humbug ; 
speech-making intended merely to 
deceive. From Buncombe County, 
N. Carolina, whose representative in 
the i6th Congress, Felix Walker, was 
addicted to such speech-making. 

Bunny : pet name for a rabbit. From 
bun, a tail. 

Burbolt, As much brain as a : as much 
sense as a bird-bolt or short, thick 
arrow, formerly used for shooting 
rooks. [UdaU, Ralph Roister Doister, 
III, ii, 11. loo-i (1550)] 

Burchardize, To : to speak with 
authority. After Burchard (d. 1026), 
Bp. of Worms, compiler of a collection 
of canons. 

Burgomaster : the Mayor of a German, 
Dutch, or Flemish town. 

Buridan’s Ass : the donkey, invented by 
the Fr. Schoolman, Jean Buridan 
(1297-1358). The ass, pressed by both 
hunger and thirst yet utterly unable to 
decide between a measure of oats and 
a bucket of water, both of which were 
within his reach, died of starvation and 
thirst. 

Burke, To : to dispose of secretly ; later, 
to prevent another from securing ; to 
prevent; suppress. After Wm. Burke 
(1792-1829), body-snatcher. 

Burlaw : lynch-law {q,v.) ; a local law 
in Scotland. Byr, borough. 

Burleigh nod, A Lc^ : a nod supposed to 
convey deep meaning, to have much 
wisdom behind it. From the nod of 
Lord Burleigh in Mr.PufiE's The Spanish 
Armada, a part of Sheridan's The 
Critic (1779)- 

Bum one’s boats behind one. To : 

see Boats. 

Bum one’s fingers. To : to get into 
trouble or suffer loss. 

Bum the candle at both ends, To ; see 
Candle. 

Bum daylight, To : to waste time. 
\Appii^ and Virginia, 1. 230 (1563)]. 

Burning guestion, A : a matter of 
intense and widespread interest and 
discussion. First used in English by 
Edward MiaU, M.P. and Noncon- 



Burning] 


68 


[Buttonhole 


formist minister (1809-81) ; prev. used 
in German {brennende Fragen) by 
Hagenbach in Gyundlinien dev LAturgie 
und Homiletik (1803). A ‘red-hot' 
question is us^ “with the same 
meaning. 

Burning Siame» A : a conspicuous dis- 
grace. phakespeare. King Lear, IV, 
iii, 48 (1605-6)1 

Bnise, The (Fr., bourse, purse): one of 
the ofl5.cial insignia of the Lord 
Chancellor. A receptacle used in 
connection "with the Eucharist. 

Bury the hatchet, To : see Hatchet. 

Bus, A : a contracted form of omnibus, 
a public vehicle for the conveyance of 
passengers on £zed routes. (Lat., 
omnibus, for everybody.) 

Busby, A; a uniform hat worn by certain 
Eng. regiments ; formerly a ^edes of 
wig. Either from the name of an 
Eng. village or an Eng. family name. 

Busby’s School : Westminster School. 
After Richard Busby (1606-95), a 
famous headmaster. 

Bush, To beat about the : see Beat. 

Bush-Whacker, A: (i) an irregular 
soldier in the Amer. Civil War ; lit., 
a backwoodsman, one who beats down 
bushes in order to make his way; 
(2) (political) a free-lance. 

Bushd, To hide one’s light under a : to 
live modestly, not to obtrude one’s 
excellences. [Matthew, v, 15 ; Xotus 
Mundus in maligno posiius, 11. 49-50 


(1557)] ^ , 

Bushd, To measure com by one’s own : 
to judge others by one's own standard. 
[Joseph Henshaw, Horae Succesivae 
279 {1631)] 

Bushido : the Japanese code of chivalry, 
lit., the way of a military knight. 

Buskin ; tragedy. After the hsdf-boot 
worn by Greek and Roman actors in 
tragedy. 

Busman’s (Busdriver’s) Holiday, A: a 
holiday devoted to following one's 
ordinary occupation. Prom the 
apocryphal practice of a busman when 
on holiday riding by the side of one of 
his colleagues on duty. 

Busy (fussy) as a hen that has one chick, 
Afl ; fussy and over-anxious about 
trifles. [Clarke, Paroemiologia (1639)] 

Busybody, A : one who concerns himself 
unnecessarily with other people's 
business. [Tindal, I Peter, iv, 15 
(1526)] 

But me no buts ! : speak clearly and to 
the point, without any qualifications. 


[Finding, Rape upon Rape, II, ii 

(1730)] 

Butcher of Oulloden, The : the Duke of 
Cumberland (1721-65). On account 
of his cruelties perpetrated after the 
defeat of the rebels at CuUoden. 


Butler’s box, A : a box into which card- 
players put a portion of their winnings 
(?) for the butler. 

Butler’S grace, A : a drink. 

Butter would not melt in one’s mouth. To 
look as if : to have the appearance of 
perfect innocence and hmmlessness. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (1546) ; J. 
Clarke, Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina 
(1639)] 

Butter-box, A; Butter-bag, A: a 
Dutchman (contemptuously). Prob- 
ably in reference to the production of 
butter in Holland. [Lyly, Sapho and 
Phao, III, ii (1591)] 

Butter-fingers, A : one who misses a 
catch at cricket, or is otherwise clumsy 
with the fingers ; a duffer. [Markham, 
The English Housewife, II, ii, 51 

(1615)] 

Buttered ale : a drink composed of beer. 


butter, etc. 

Butterfly on the whed. To break a : to 
employ an unnecessarily great effort 
to overcome a slight obstacle. 

Butterfly Journal, A : a financial news- 
paper, not intended for bona fide sale 
but given away as an advertisement 
to induce the purchase of shares, etc. 

Butterny(’s) Mss, A : a Mss with the 
eyelashes. 

Butternuts : (i) soldiers of the Con- 
federate States; on account of the 
colour of their uniforms, i,e., a 
brownish-grey ; (2) sympathizers 

with the Confederate cause, in the 
Northern States. 

Button for . • Not to care a (brass) : to 
hold as of next to no account. On 
account of the small value of a button. 
[Taylor, Workes (1630)] 

Buttons, A (Boy in) : a page ; the buttons 
on whose uniform are numerous and 
conspicuous. 

Buttons, Not to have all one’s : to be 
half-witted. 

Buttons, To have a soul above : to be 
superior to one's employment. [Geo. 
Colman, Sylvester Daggerwood (i795)3 

Buttonhole a person. To : to detain a 
person in conversation, as if by 
inserting your finger in his button- 
hole; to bore a person with one's 
conversation. 



Button-hole] 69 

Button-hole, To seize a person hy the : 

to detain a person in conversation. 
[Goldsmith. The Good-natured Man, 

II, i (1768)] 

Buy cheap and sell dear. To : [Petronius, 
Satyricon, cap. 75] 

Buzfuz, A Sergeant : a bullying lawyer. 
After a character in Dickens, Pickwick 
Papers (1836). 

Buzzards : inhabitants of Georgia, U.S. A. 
Owing to the number of wild turkeys 
in that state. 

Buzzard, As blind as a : a buzzard was 
the name of a flying beetle ; as in the 
evening it often struck people in its 
flight it was popularly supposed to be 
blind. 

Buzzard, Between hawk and : see Hawk. 

Byegones be byegones. To let : to ignore 
past wrongs or causes of offence and 
to start relations again with a clean 
slate. 

Byron, The Polish : Adam Mickiewicz 
(1798-1855). 

Byron, The Russian : Alexander 
Sergeivitch Puschkin (1799-1837). 

Bsni^oners : landless Boers in the Trans- 
vaal and Orange Free State. 

Byzant : see Bezant. 

Byzantism : a system of absolute 
monarchical government. From 
Byzantium, the name of the Eastern 
Empire. 

Caaba ; Eaaba : the building at Mecca 
in which the sacred stone, the centre 
of Mohammedan pilgrimage, is kept. 

Cabal, A : a faction ; an intrigue ; a 
party of intriguers. Probably from 
Cabbala {q.v.). By a coincidence the 
initial letters of the names of the five 
members of the governing committee 
of the Privy Council in 1670, Clifford, 
Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, 
Lauderdale, form the word Cabal. 

Cabsd, To : to intrigue, to plot. 

Cabal, The American (Conway’s) : an 
intrigue on the part of certain represen- 
tatives of the Northern States against 
Geo. Washington and in the interests 
of Charles Lee. Its leader was Thos. 
Conway (1733-1805). 

Cabbage, To : to crib ; to steal. Orig. 
of a tailor (slang designation 
* cabbage *) who retains a portion of 
the cloth entrusted to him. Old Fr., 
cabasser, to steal. 

Cabbage Garden Patriot, A : a cowaxd. 
Smith O’Brien was discovered hiding 


[Cadmean 

among cabbages after his abortive 
rebellion. 

Cabbala : the esoteric learning of the 
Jews ; the mystical literature of 
Judaism. 

Cabinet, A : the committee of ministers 
which forms the government of a 
country; a meeting of such a com- 
mittee. From ' cabinet,’ the private 
room of the sovereign in which the 
committee orig. met. 

Cabinet Noir, A {Fr^f black cabinet) : an 
office in France created by Louis XIV 
for the supervision of the correspon- 
dence of suspected persons ; abolished 
in 1886. 

Ca’ canny : (of working men) intentional 
reduction of speed in working and of 
output ; from * call,* to drive, and 
* canny,* cautiously, deliberately. 

Cachet, Lettres de : see Lettre de Cachet. 

Caci(iue, A : a native chief of the Central 
or S. Amer. Indians. 

Cackler, A : a chatterer ; a tell-tale ; 
resembling a cackling hen. 

Cacoethes scribendi (Lat, itch for 
writing) : an irrepressible desire to 
write. [Juvenal, Satires, VII, 52 ; 
Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)] 

Cacus, As great a thief as : Cacus was a 
mythological robber, the son of Vulcan 
and Medusa. 

Cad, A : (i) a vulgar, dishonourable 

fellow; (2) less often, an unskilled 
labourer ; (3) an omnibus conductor ; 
(4) a passenger carried for the profit 
of the driver and not of the owner of 
the coach. An abbreviation either of 
‘ caddie ’ [q-v.), in which connection 
the term came into use at Oxford 
University, or of * cadger.’ 

Caddie, A : a boy in attendance on a 
golf-player ; a man who waits about 
for odd jobs. French, cadet, junior, 
younger. See Cad. 

Cadets, The : a Russian political party, 
the Constitutional Democrats. From 
the initial letters C(=K)D. 

Cadi, {Arab,): an inferior judge among 
the Moslems. 

Cadmean Letters : the Jetters of the 
Grk. alphabet. From a Grk. legend 
that they were introduced by Cadmus, 
son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, the 
legendary founder of Thebes. 

Cadmean Victory, A : a victory purchased 
at great cost. From the legend of the 
armed men who sprang from the 
dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus, and 
fought with one another until only five 



Cadmns] 


70 


[California 


survived. The term was fimt used by 
Herodotus in his description of the 
Battle of Alalia (535 B.C.). [Hist,, I, 
166] 

Cadmus Crop, A : in allusion to the legend 
of Cadmus. See Cadmean Victory. 
[Jasper Fisher, Fuimus Tfoes, Prologue 

(1633)] 

Cadogaz4 A : a knot of ribbon worn at 
the back of the hair. After the ist 
Earl Cadogan (1675-1726). 

Csesar^ To appeal unto : to appeal to the 
highest authority. {A cts, xxv, 1 1] 

Caesar, To render unto : in allusion to 
Matthew, xxii, 21, ‘ Render to Caesar 
the things that are Caesar's, and to God 
the things that are God's.' Do not 
allow your religious duties to interfere 
with your duties as a citiztti ! [Sir 
Thos. Overbury, Characters : A 
Jesuite (1616)] 

Oeesar’s Wife, A s one on whom even the 
breath of suspicion must not be allowed 
to alight. ‘ Because I would have the 
chastity of my wife clear even from 
suspicion,* was the reply of Julius 
Caesar when asked why he had 
divorced his wife Pompeia through 
no fault of hers, but because Publius 
Clodius had fallen in love with her. 

Caesars, The City of the : a mythical city 
in South America, said to have been 
founded by a member of Cabot's pai^ 
named Caesar, who deserted or dis- 
appeared, in 1530- 

Osesarian operation, A : a surgical 
operation for the purpose of assisting 
child-birth. Julius C^ar is said to 
have been bom by this means. 

Caesarism : autocratic rule. After the 
Caesars. Roman emperors. 

Caf6 in Eorope, The most aristocratic : 
Spa, Belgium. In allusion to 
resoiit to it of the royalty and nobility 
of Europe. 

Caftan, A (Turkish) : a long outer 
garmoit worn in Asiatic countries. 

Oa^, The brand of : the mark of out- 
lawry. [Genesis, iv, 15] 

Hfin, onrse of: condemnation to 
perpetual wandering. The punish- 
ment of Cain for the murd«: of 
Abel. 

Cain-coloured heard (lia^) : red beard 
(hair) . From the traditional colour of 
Cain's hair. 

Ca ira (Fr,, it will succeed): a French 
Revolutionary song, composed in 1791. 
The refrain, Qa ira, fa ira, was taken 
from a root of Benjamin Franklin, the 


Amer. revolutionist, uttered during the 
dark period of the Amer. Revolution. 

C^e and have it too. To eat the : to have 
the advantage of both sides of a 
bargain. [Plautus, Trinummus, II, 
iv ; Jno. Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Cake is dough. My : I have abandoned 
hope. A cake leaving the oven as 
dough is hopelessly spoilt. [Shakes- 
peare, The Taming of the Shrew, V, i 
(?I596)] 

Cakes, The Land of : see Land. 

Cake, To take the : to gain the prize ; 
to be the best of several. In allusion 
to a cake as a prize in tiie cake-waBring 
competition among the negroes of the 
U.S.A. A cake was awarded as a 
prize even in antiquity. [Aristophanes, 
Thesmophoriavusae, 

Cakes and ale : the good things of the 
world ; luxuries. [Shakespeare, 
Twelfth Night, II, iii (1601)] 

Cake-walk, A : a dance ; orig. a negro 
dance. See Cake, To take the. 

Calabar bean, A : a poisonous plant ; 
the ' ordeal bean * of the natives of 
Old Calabar. 

Calais Cormorant, A : a man who had 
served in the French wars. [Histrio- 
mastix. III, i, U. loo-i (1610I] 

Calais Sands : after duelling had become 
illegal in England, it was the custom 
to cross the Channel to Calais to settle 


disputes there. 

Caledonia : a poetical name for 

Scotland. Celtic. 

C^endar, A Newgate : a record of crime. 
The Newgate Calendar, first published 
in 1700, is a record of the lives, crimes, 
confessions, etc., of criminals. 

Calends, The Cheek : See Greek Kalends. 

Calepin, A : a dictionary. After 
Ambrosio Calepino (1435-1511)* Ital. 
lexicographer. 

(MP, The Golden : the symbol of wealth 
as the object of worship. lExodus, 
xxxii] 

CalTs a : a fool. From the coats 
of calf-sMn worn by professional fools. 

Calf-love : the first love of young lads, 
usually for thdr seniors. 

Calibaa, A : a degraded, semi-brutal 
being. After a character in Shakes- 
peare, Tempest (1600) 

Cauoo : a cotton cloth. Orig. Calicut 
cloth, after Calicut, in India. 

California widow, A : a woman living 


apart from her husband. At the time 
of the California gold-fever many men 
left their homes to go in search of 



Caliph] 71 [Canape 


fortunes, leaving their wives behind 
them. 

Caliph, A (Arab., a successor) : (i) the 
spiritual head of all Moslems until 
1517, when the dignity was transferred 
to the Turkish sultans ; (2) a descen- 
dant of Mahomet. 

Call ; Call-bird, A : a decoy bird. 
[Shakespeare, King John, III, iv, 174 
(?I595)] 

Call Boy, A : a boy employed to warn 
actors that their appearance on the 
stage is about to come due. 

Call in question. To : to challenge the 
truth ol [Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86), 
Wooing-Stuff, 11. 21-2] 

CaU out. To : to challenge to a 
duel. 

Call over the coals. To : to haul over the 
coals (q.v.). 

Called to one’s last account : dead. 

Csdler Herrin’ : fresh, newly-caught 
herrings. Scot, and Northern 
dialect. 

Callipolis, A : a sweetheart. After a 
character in Peele, The Battle of 
Alcazar (1594)* 

Callot; Calot; Callet: a woman of bad 
character. After Kit Callot, said to 
have been the first Englishwoman to 
adopt the life of a gypsy. 

Calumet of Peace, The : the pipe of peace. 
Among Amer. Indians the symbol of 
peace. Fr., calumet, the French- 
Canadian term for the plant out of 
which Indian pipes are made. 

Calvary, A : a place of martyrdom. 
After the name of the place of the 
Crucifixion of Christ. 

Calvert’s Entire : the 14th Regt, of Foot, 
now the Prince of Wales" Own. After 
the name of their colonel, Sir Harry 
Calvert (1806-26) and in allusion to the 
three entire battalions that were kept 
up for his benefit. 

Camacho’s wedding : great, but useless, 
expenditure. From the story of the 
fmstrated wedding of Camacho in 
Cervantes, Don Quixote. 

Camarilla, A : a body of intriguers or 
plotters, esp. the secret advisers of a 
sovereign. Span., camara, a chamber. 
See Cabinet. 

Cambays : a cotton-doth made in India. 
After Cambay, a port of India. 

Cambria: Wales. 

Cambrian Shakespeare, The: Edward 
Williams (1746-1826). 

Cambric: a linen fabric. FromCambrai, 
France. 


Cambridgeshire nightingales : frogs. On 
account of the number to be found in 
that county. 

Cambyses’ vein, In King : pompously. 
After a character in Thos. Preston, 
Cambyses (1569). [Shakespeare, 

I Henry IV, ii, 4 (1596)] 

Camel Driver of Mecca, The : Mohammed. 

Camellia : a shrub. From G. J. 
Camellus, a Jesuit, who discovered it 
in the Philippines. 

Camera obscura, A (Lat.) : a darkened 
room ; an optical instrament. 

Cameronians, The : a Scottish regiment, 
formed orig. in 1689, to serve against 
the Jacobites, from some of the 
extreme Covenanting followers of 
Richard Cameron (1648-80), 

Camisards : French Protestants who 
took up arms in defence of their 
liberties (1702-5). Lat. camisa, a 
shirt ; after the white blouses of the 
peasants who formed the majority of 
the rebels. Camisard is also a military 
term, meaning a night attack. 

Cam(m)ock, As crooked as a : a camock 
is a crooked beam used in ship- 
building. Welsh, kam, crooked. 

Camorra : a Neapohtan secret revolution- 
ary Sodety, afterwards merged in the 
foHowers of Garibaldi ; later used for 
any secret revolutionary society. 

Camouflage : disguise. The term was 
introduced during the European War 
of 1914-18, orig. to denote a disguise 
employed for military purposes. 
Probably from camouflet, smoke inten- 
tionally blown into another"s face, 
though many other derivations have 
been suggested. 

Campeachy : log-wood. After Cam- 
peachy, in Central America, whence 
it was imported. 

Can^to Santo (Ital., holy field) : a 
cemetery, esp. in Italy. 

Campus M^us (Lai., field of Mars) : a 
place of military action. From Mars, 
the Roman god of war. 

Canaan, A : a land of promise. After 
the l^d promised to the Israelites by 
God. 

CanaiUe (Fr., pack of dogs) : the rabble ; 
the lowest class in the population. 

Caned Boy, The : James Abram Garfield 
(1831-81), President of the U.S., who 
served for a portion of his youth as a 
hand on a canal-boat. 

Canap 6 , A (Fr., sofa) : a slice of bread 
fried in butter and used as a support 
for caviare, anchovies, etc. 



CanaEd] 7^ 

Ganaxdt A (Fr duck] : a silly stoi^ that 
searvss as a koax. The word in this 
sense has been derived tronx the phrase 
vsndrs un canard d woifid, to half-adl a 
duck, i.ff., not to sell it at all. Another 
derivation is jCrom a story told by the 
Dutch painter, Comelissen, that he fed 
a flock of twenty ducks (Fr., canard) 
on one of their number which he 
killed every day. Ultimately the flock 
was reduced to one duck which had 
presumably eaten up all its fellows. 

(huiaiieSs To dance the : to take part in a 
lively Span, dance, called the Canary 
or Canaries, believed to have originated 
in the Canary Islands. 

Canary* A : (i) & guinea, from the 
colour of that coin ; (2) a singing-biid, 

after the Canary Islands. 

Chmary Bird* A : a gaol-biid. a convict. 
Either on account of the colour of the 
uniform fonnerly worn by them, or, 
more probably, nrom the cage (prison) 
in which a convict is confined. 

The : a noisy, indecent dance. 
Suggested etymologic are: (i) Old- 
French, caquehan, a tumultnous 
assembly ; (2) Fr., cancaner, to quack 
as a duck ; (3) Lat., quaa^uam, about 
the pronunciation of wlii<h there was 
a noisy disputation in the Fr. schools. 
Candle* As fine (gay) as the Sing’s: 
generally apfdied to an overdressed 
woman. An allusion to the ancient 
practice of presenting gaily-coloured 
candles to the Three Kings of Cologne 
on the 6th January. 

Gandlei As uptight as a: [Heywood, 

Procerbes (1546J] 

Candle at iKWi ends* To buzn the: to use 
one's resources extravagantly, either 
by spending more than one earns, or 
by encroachiag in work on one's time 
of rest and recreation. [Le Sage, 
Gil Bias, VII, 15] 

Candle: Bell, Book, and : sec Bell. 

Candle, Sale by the : a kind of sale by 
auction, the bids being open until the 
candle has burnt down to a certain 
mark. 

Candle, The game is not wozth the : t.s., 
not worth nndertaking. Apparently 
in allusion to a game played by 
candle-ligfht, the stakes in which were 
of small amount, barely sufficient to 
pay for the value of the candle. [Geo. 
Herbert, Jacula Prudenium (1640); 
Comdlle, Le Mcnteur, I, i (1642)] 

Gandleto.. Not fit to hold a : altogether 
inferior to . . In allusion to the link- 


[Oannon-foddei 

boys who used to hdd the torches at 
places of entertafument. 

Candle to seek another, To bum one : 
to throw good money after bad. 
[Gosson, Schools of Abuse (1579)] 

Candle to the Devil, To hold a : orig. to 
propitiate Satan, just as Saints are 
propitiated by candles ; later, to assist 
m evil courses. Lit., to attend on the 
Devil by holding a candle as a light for 
him. [Poston Letters, No. 428 (1461)] 

Candle to the Suzi, To hold a : to seek to 
compare one's little exploits with far 
greater ones. [Diogenianus, Proverbia, 
VI, 27 ; Earl of Surrey, A Praise of 
his Love, U. 27-30 (1557)] 

Candle to . . To hold a : to direct atten- 
tion to. [Shakespeare. T7$e Merchant 
of Venice, II, v (1596)] 

Candles of the nighi The : the stars. 
[Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, V, i 
P1596)] 

Candle-ends, To drink off: a romantic 
manner ai drinking a lady's health. 
Phakespeare, 2 Henry IV, II, iv, 267 

A : an abettor. From the 
practice in ^e Roman Catholic Church 
of holding a candle to the reader. 

Candle-rent: rent derived from property 
which is continually deteriorating in 
value. 

Candle-waster, A : one who reads or 
studies or otherwise sits up at 
night, thereby wasting candles. PBen 
Jonson, Cynthia* $ Revels (1599) ; 
Shakespeare, Much Ado About 
Nothing, V, i (1599)] 

Candlemas Day : Feb. 2, the Festival of 
the Purification of the Virgin, when 
candles are burnt. 

Candour, lllzs. : a slanderous hypo- 
criticsd woman ; after a character in 
Sheridan, The School for Scandal (1777}. 

Canieulai Days : the Dog Days ; period 
about Aug. xz, the time of the lisi]^ 
of the Dog-star. Lat., canicularis, 
rdating to the Dog-star. 

Oanidia, A : a witch. [Horace, Epodes, 
V] 

Cannae^ A (To be one’s) : to engage in a 
fatal battle, bringing one's period of 
success to a dose. After the battle at 
whidi Hannibal defeated L. Aemilins 
Paulas (2X6 B.C.). 

Cannibal, A : a human man-eater. A 
corruption of Span. Caribal, a 
Caribbean. 

Oannon-fbdder : infantry soldiers, esp. 
of an inferior quality. The term is 



Oanoe] 


73 


[Oapoedaw 


derived fronx Shakespeare, i Henry JV, 
IV, ii, 6o : * food fcr powder.* 

Chnoe* To paddlo one’s own: see 
Paddle. 


HoQXS : see Honrs. 

To go to : to submit ; to eat 
humble-pie. After the castle in 
Tuscany where the Emp. Henry IV 
made ms submission to Pope Hilde- 
brand in 1077. The phrase was coined 
by Bismarck in the Beichstag debates 
of 1872 in the KuUurhampf. 

ffanosffft Bill. The : the bill incorporating 
terms of settlement with the Catholic 
Party introduced into the Prussian 
Landtag in 1882. 

Cant: hypocrisy. Either (i) after 

Andrew Cant (1590-1663), Scot. 

Covenanter, who, while relentlessly 
persecuting those whom he considered 
heretics, prayed on their behalf; or 
(2) more probably, from Lat., cantus, 
a chant, on account of the drawling, 
whining tones with which cant is 
associated. 

Cantab* A : a member of the University 
of Cambridge. Abbrev. of Canta- 
brigian, from Cantabiigia, the Latin 
for Cambridge. 

Canter* A: an easy gallop. Contraction 
of * Canterbury gallop.^the pace of the 
piigriTns to Becket's shrine at Canter- 


Canterhniy Tale* A : a long or tedious 
story, or one not woitiiy of credence. 
After the title of Chaucer's poem. In 
latter sense term in frequent use in 
i6th cent. [Turbery, Book of 
Fakonrie, 260 (i575)l 

ffatitfng Coat: the Geneva gown; the 
vestment of a Puritan divine. From 
'cant* in the sense of hypocrisy, 
applied in 17th cent, to Puritans and 
Presbyterians as a term of abuse. 

Capnqfe, A : an American term for a 
C ^Tiadiflji. Said to be a corruj^on of 
* Connaught,' a term applied to English 
Canadians by their French fdlow- 
nationals. 

Canvas* A : an oil-painti^. After the 
material basis of the pictixre. 

Canvas* A man of : an artist. 

Canvas-baok* A : the reverse of a thing 
far inferior to the front. Properly, the 
canvas back of a garment. 

Canvas City* A : a military cam^ Oiig, 
the Volunteer encampment at Wimble- 
don. 

Cap* A fiaather in one’s : an achievement 
that justifies pride. 


a peiSOtt* To : to confer a University 
degree (in Scotland). 

Cap (an anecdote* etc.)* To : to follow it 
by relating one still better. [Shakes- 
peare, Henry V, ll, vii, 124 (1584)] 

Cap and bdls* To wear the : to be an 
object of ridicule. From the symbol 
worn by a professional jester. 

Cap at a person* To set one’s: (of a 
woman) to endeavour to attract the 
&iVOurable attention of a man ; 
possibly by wearing her most attractive 
cap for his benefit. 

Cap at* To throw one’s : to be envious of. 
[Three-fM JDiscourse Betweene Three 
Neighbours (1642)] 

Cap ft'nS Fbather Days : childhood. 

Gap fits* The : the remark applies. Part 
of the Italian saying * If ‘&e cap fits, 
wear it.* [Fiacchi, Favale, LXXVIII] 

Cap cf fools* The : the most fooli^ of 
the fools. 

Cap of Liberty* The: the symbol of 
Republicanism. From the cap given 
to Roman slaves on their emanci- 
pation. 

Cap of maintenanoei The : a cap carried 
before a dignitary on ceremonial 
occasions. 


Cap* To put on one’s considering : see 
Considering Cap. 

Cap the globe* To : to surpass everything. 
See Cap an anecdote. 

Cap to . • To : to assent to . . In 
allusion to the custom among French 
judges of sigi^tfjdng their assent to a 
conclusion ty raising their caps. 

Gaps* Bine: see Blue, 

Caps* To pull : to quarrel, like two 
women who PuU at one another’s 


CapXpie (Old Fr.) : from head to foot. 
A feudal idiiase referring orig. to 
armour. 

Cap-in-hand : submissive. From the 
practice of uncovering the head in the 
presence of a superior. 

Cape Msrohani* A : a supercargo ; a 
head merchant in a factory. Probably 
the correct form is * Cap merchant,’ 
head merdiant, from ‘ cap.* 

Cape Sheep* A : a sailor’s term for the 
albatross which frequents the vicinity 
of the Cape of Good Ho^. 

CapeETS* To out : to frolic. Lat., ca^, a 
wild-goat, via Fr., capriole, a frolic- 
some leap. \A Match ai Midnight, 
IV, i (1633)] 

Caperolaw* To : to scrahh with the open 
hand. Properly, clapperclaw (j.v.). 



Caperdochy] 74 [Card 


Caperdochy, A : a prison. After Cappa- 
docia, the king of which was, according 
to Horace, rich in slaves but poor in 
money. 

Capemaite, A : a believer in transub- 
stantiation. From Capernaum, in 
Galilee. \Joh 7 i, vi, 52] 

Capital out of . . To niake : to take 
advantage of an event or circumstance. 

Capitals, To speak in : to lay great 
emphasis on certain words. [Sir 
Thos. Browne, Religio Medici, Pt. I 

(1643)] 

Capitol, A : a legislative building, esp. 
in the U.S. After the legislative 
building in ancient Rome. 

Capitularies : edicts of the early French 
kings. 

Capitulations ; arrangements whereby 
Europeans in most non-Christian 
States are not subject to the tribunals 
of the State but to that of the Consul 
of their own nation. 

Capon, A Grail’s : a dried haddock. 

Capon, A Glasgow ; a salt herring. See 
Glasgow Magistrate. 

Capon, A Severn : a sole. 

Capon, A Yarmouth : a red herring. 

Caporal Bong, The : Frederick William I 
of Prussia. On account of his devotion 
and services to his army. 

Caporal, Le Petit (Fr., the Little 
Corporal) : Napoleon I. So-called by 
his soldiers. 

Caporal Violet : Napoleon I. A name by 
which he was called by his friends in 
France during his exile in Elba, in the 
hope that he would return in the spring. 

Cappadochio, A ; a prison ; see Caper- 
dochy, 

Captain of the Age, The : the Duke of 
Wellington, so-called by Sir Francis 
Burdett. 

Captain Armstrong, To come: (of a 
jockey) to pull his horse so as to 
prevent it from winning. A play on 
‘ strong arm.' 

Captain Copperthome’s Crew : all leaders 
and no followers. 

Captain of Kcepenick, A : a picturesque 
and amusing thief. From one Voigt, 
a shoemaker, who in Oct., 1906, 
masquerading as an army captain, 
induced the Burgomaster of KOpenick 
in Prussia to transfer to bim the funds 
of the municipality. 

Captain Podd : a showman. After one 
famous in the i6th and 17th cents. 

Captain Stiff over. To come: to treat 
with extreme formality. 


Captain of the suburbs, A : a pickpocket 
or other street criminal. 

Capua, A : a scene of degeneration due 
to self-indulgence. After the Ital. city 
whose luxury demoralized Hannibal's 
army. 

Capua, The wealth of : the luxury of 
Capua was proverbial in 2nd and 3rd 
cents. B.C. 

Capuchins : a Roman Catholic religious 
Order, the mendicant friars of the 
Franciscan Order, founded in 1529. 
Fr., capuche, a pointed cowl, worn by 
them. 

Caput mortuum : worthless residue. It 
is the teclmical term used in chemistry 
to denote the useless remnant after 
distillation or sublimation. 

Oarabas, A Marquis of : a pretentious, 
conservative old aristocrat. After a 
character in Le Chat BottS (Puss in 
Boots), one of Perrault's Contes 
(17th cent.). 

Carabineers, The : the 6th Dragoon* 
Guards. On account of the carbines 
with which they were formerly armed. 

Caracole, To : to caper about. Properly 
(of a horse) to perform a series of 
half-wheeling motions. 

Carat : a weight for precious metals and 
gems. From Grk., keration, the seed 
of the locust-tree, which was at one 
time used as the weight. 

Caraway : an edible seed. From Caria, 
in Asia Minor, whence it was at 
one time obtained. 

Carbonari : secret revolutionary societies 
in Italy and Portugal in the early 19th 
cent. Ital., carbonari, charcoal- 
burners, in whose huts the conspirators 
met. Also the extreme royalists who 
conspired against Louis XVIII in 
1822. 

Carcel-lamp, A : a clockwork lamp ; a 
unit of illuminating power. After 
Carcel, the inventor. 

Card, A : a slang-term, used generally in 
conjunction with an adjective, to 
describe a person with some peculiar 
trait, e.g., ' queer,' ' knowing.' 

Perhaps descended from the phrase ' a 
sure card ' [q.v. inf.). 

Card, A leading : a precedent. 

Card, A sure : a safe card to play, one 
which is certain to win ; later, a 
person who can be relied on. 

Card, To play one’s best : to make one's 
principal point in a contest. 

Cwrd, To play one’s last : to make one's 
last remaining effort. A card-pla3dng 



Card] 


75 


[Caxii^^ 


metaphor. [Bunyan, Xh$ Holy War 
(1682)] 

Oard, To speak hy the : to speak mth 
absolute accuracy ; in allusion to the 
card of the mariner's compass. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, V, i, 149 
(1603)1 

Cards, A house of : an unsubstantial, 
insecure scheme, which, like a * house ' 
built by children of playing-cards, is 
liable to tumble to pieces at a mere 
touch. 

Cards in one’s hands. To have the : to 
have the opportunity with one. A 
card-playing metaphor. [Life and 
Death of Jack Straw, I, 1. 208 (1593)1 

Oarfe To he on the ; to bo likely or 
possible to happen ; referring either to 
card-playing, from the possibility of 
any card to be turned up in the game ; 
or to the practice of forecasting the 
future from cards. Popularized by 
Dickens, but in literary use as early 


as Smollett. 

Cards, To go in with good: to have 
excellent reasons for expecting success. 
Cards well (badly). To play one’s : to act 
with discretion (without discretion). 
A card-playing metaphor. [Arth. 
Murphy, Three Weeks after Marriage, 
I {1776)1 

Cards, To show one’s : to exhibit one's 
resources and intentions. A card- 


playing metaphor. 

Cam, To throw up the : to abandon the 
contest. A card-playing metaphor. 

Cardial ; Cardigan-iadket, A : a 
knitted woollen waistcoat. After the 
7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1668). 

OardijuJ, The Gray : see Gray. 

Cardinal of the Huguenots, The: Cardinal 
Richelieu (1585-1642), who granted 
tolerance to the Calvinists of Fr^mce 
in 1629, supported the Protestants of 
Geormany against the Emperor, and 
those of the Grisons and the^ Low 
Countries against Catholic Spain. 

CftrSfaftl virtues, The : justice, prudence, 
temperance and fortitude — the chief 
' natural ' virtues, to which are some- 
times added faith, hope and charity — 
the theological virtues. 

Care (Careaway) Sunday : the fifth 
Sunday in Lent ; formerly the Sunday 
before Good Friday. See next entry. 
Perhaps (by folk-etymology) deriv^ 
from ^care ' in the sense of ' grief.' 

Carlin (Carling ; Carl) Sunday : the fifth 
Sunday in Lent. When there was 
great scarcity in Northumbria in 13 th 


cent., a ship unexpectedly arrived 
with a cargo of carUn peas, and re- 
moved the danger of starvation. See 
also Care Sunday. 

Carlists : supporters of Don Carlos, 
claimant to the throne of Spain, or of 
his descendants. Their claim is based 
on the illegality of the succession of a 
woman to the throne of Spain. 

Carmagnole, The : a French revolution- 
ary song and dance. After a dress of 
that name worn by the Jacobins in 
the French Revolution. From 
Carmagnola, in Italy. 

Carm^tes, The : the White Friars, a 
mendicant religious order, formed in 
Palestine in 12th cent. From Mount 
Carmel, whose hermits were the 
originators of the Order. 

Carnival, A : a riotous festival ; the 
festival immediately preceding Lent. 
Medieval Lat„ camelevarium. Shrove 
Tuesday, from caro, flesh, and levare, 
to put aside. 

Carpet, On the : under consideration. 
Lit., on the Council table. Sur le 
tapis is used in the same sense. 

Carpet-bagger, A: a candidate for a 
constituency brought from outside 
and unknown to the electors. Orig. a 
XJ.S. political term applied to adven- 
turers in the Southern States after the 
Civil War. In both cases the whole of 
their visible property could be enclosed 
in a carpet-bag. 

Carpet knii^t (captain ; coward), A : a 

soldier who frequente carpet^ rooms 
in preference to the field of battle. 
See Carpet-monger. 

Carpet sa^e» A : a carpet-monger 

(j.v.). 

Carpet-dance, A : a dance in a carpeted 
room, not in a ball-room with polished 
floors; an informal dance. 

Carpet-monger ; carpet-captain ; carpet- 
coward, A : a man who frequents 
drawing-rooms, boudoirs, and other 
carpeted chambers. A term suggesting 
effeminacy. 

Carrageen ; Carrageen : Irish moss, a 
substitute for isinglass. After Carrag- 
heen, in Ireland. 

Carriage-folk (compa^) : people who 
keep their own carriages. 

Oanier’s jonmeys. By : slowly. [Killi- 
grew, The Parson's Wedding, II, v 
(1663)] 

Oaniite oaverte anz talents (Ff., a career 
open to the talents) : the principle 
expressed by Napoleon I. 



Caironade] 


76 


[Oasns 


Cairoiiade* A : a short caonon ■with a 
large bore. From the Carron Iron- 
works in Scotland. 

Oairots : a jocular term of address to red- 
haired people. Probably because the 
carrot is red, but derived by sorae from 
Judas Iscariot, who, according to 
tradition was red-haired. ‘ Ginger * 
is similarly an address to yellow-haired 
people. . 

Cart before the horse, To put the : to 
reverse the natural or correct order, 
eitherin an undertaking or a d^<^ptive 
account. [Robert Whittington, 
Vulgaria (1520)] 

Oa^blanoa {Ital.) ; Carte blandie (Fr.) : 
a free hand to act as one’s discretion 
dictates. Lit,, 'white paper,* i.e., 
without instructions. 

Carte de visite, A ; a small-sized photo- 
graph. From the practice of the Duke 
of Parma (1857) of having his photo- 
graph on the back of his visiting-card. 

Cartd, A : a combination of manu- 
facturers (esp. of sugar, in Austria) 
who, by means of heavy import-duties, 
are enabled to make large profits by 
sales at home and thus to sell abroad 
below cost-price. 

Carthi^e of the North : Lfibeck, the head 
of the Hanseatic iLeag^ie (see Hansa 
Towns). 

Carthaginian Faith i see Punic Faith. 

Carthaginian Peace, Asa treaty of peace, 
so harsh in its conditions as to involve 
almost the destruction of the defeated 
party. Applied in particular to the 
Treaty of Versailles of 1919. See 
Delenda est Carthago. 

Caiiiu^o, Delenda est : see Delenda. 

Oarthuaians : a monastic Order, founded 
in 1084 at Chartreuse, in France. 

Carthusian Stlenoe : almost complete 
silence. From the severe regimen of 
the Carthusian Order of monks, which 
indudes frequent and long periods of 
silence. 

Caryatid, A : a female figure in sculpture. 
From a woman of Caiyae, Laconia, 
Greece, a priestess of Diana. 

Casablanca, A : a heroic boy. After 
Giacomo Jocante Casablanca, son of 
a Fr. naval ofl&cer. He perished nobly 
at the Battle of the Nile. His deed 
was sung in a famous poem by Fdida 
Hemaus, which has populamed his 
name. 

Case-hardened : impervious to im- 
pressions. Lit., hardened on the 
surface. An engineering metaphor. 


Cadiniere 2 a fine woollen material made 
from the hair of the Cashmere goat. 

Casket Letters, The : the letters sent by 
Mary, Queen of Scots, to Bothwell, 
which, if genuine, would prove her 
compUdty in the murder of Damley. 

Cassandra, A : a prophetess of evil whose 
warnings are cfisregarded. After 
Cassandra, daughter of Priam, King 
of Troy, whose prophedes of woe were 
unheeded. 

Cassius, Purple of: a purple pigment. 
After Andreas Cassius (d. 1680), Germ. 
ph3rsidan and chemist, the inventor. 

Cast beyond the moc^ To : to calculate 
fancifully concerning something very 
remote. [Heywood, Proverbes (1562)] 

Castalian : poetic. AAer the name of 
the fountain of the Muses on Mount 
Parnassus . 

Caste, To lose : to sufier reduction in 
status. In allusion to the Indian 
caste-system. 

Casting-oouxiters : counters used for the 
process of calculation. 

Castle, The : Dublin Castle, the seat of 
the Irish administration. 

Castle of INaidens, The : Edinburgh. 

Oasfle, Old Lad of the, An : a hail-fellow 
well met. Probably an equivalent of 
Castilian, once considered a perfect 
gentleman. [i6th cent.] 

Castles in Suain ; daydreams ; castles in 
the air (q.v.), Orig. a Fr. phrase (nth 
cent.), Spain being the nearest Mo- 
hammedan country and therefore 
outside the pale of medieval dvili- 
zation. The phrase may have arisen 
out of the wonderful rewards that fell 
to Henry of Burgundy and his followers 
on their invasion of Spain and Portugal 
to assist the Christians against the 
Moslems. One result was the creation 
of the kingdom of Portugal, of which 
Henry’s son was the firet monarch. 
It may be mentioned that at that 
period the castles of Spain were very 
few in number and every French baron 
who settled in the counliy had to build 
one for his occupation. [Romaunt of 
the Rose (1400)] 

Castles in the air : daydreams ; projects 
never expected or even intended to be 
realized. [North, Plutarch (1580)] 

Castles, To build : to give reins to one's 
imagination ; to be imduly optimistic 
See Castles in the air. 

Casus b^ (Lai., a cause of war) : an 
international offence justifying a 
declaration of war. 



Oasus] 77 

Casus foederis {Lat., a cause of a treaty) : 
an event that involves action by a 
State in accordance with the terms of 
an international treaty. 

Cat, The : see Cat-o*-nine-tails. 

Cat, As sick as a : in allusion to the 
proneness of cats to vomit. The 
original form was ‘ As sick as cats 
eating rats.* 

Cat can lick her ear. Before a : i.e., 
never, because a cat cannot lick her ear. 

Cat, Cheshire, A : see Cheshire Cat. 

Cat in, Not room to swing a : in allusion 
to the ' sport * of hanging a cat to a 
tree as a target. 

Cat in pan . . To turn : to prove 
perfidious ; to change oue*s side. A 
cookery metaphor; from cate, cake. 
Another derivation is from the Cati- 
pani, a South-Ital. race, notorious for 
its perfidy. Yet another derivation is 
from the French, tourney cote en peine, 
to turn sides in trouble. [He3rw’ood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Cat i’ the adage. The : in the adage the 
cat covets fish but does not like to 
wet its paws. [Shakespeare, Macbeth, 

1, vii (1605)] 

Oat jumps, To see which way the : to 

watch which direction events are 
taking before one acts ; to * wait and 
see.* Derived from the game of 
tip-cat. 

Cat, Nine lives of a : see Nine lives. 

Ca^o’-nine-tails, A : a whip, for use on 
human beings, with nine knotted 
lashes. Orig. used on board ship, 
where ropes are called " cats.* 

Cat out of the bag. To let the : to disclose 
a secret. From the swindle at country 
fairs of selling cats (in place of sucking- 
pigs) enclosed in bags. 

Cat, To whip the : to play a practical 
joke. After a standing joke played on 
stupid country men in parts of England. 

Cats and dogs. To rain : to rain very 
heavily. [Swift, Polite Conversation 
{1731)] Possibly a corruption of 
* catalupe,* a waterfall. 

Cat’s foot. To live under the : to live 
under female control. In allusion to a 
mouse living on sufferance under the 
control of the cat. 

Cats in a gutter, To agree like two : 
[Jno. He3rwood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Cats, yilkftTiny : see Kilkeimy cats. 

Ca^a-mount ; Cat-o’-mount^ : a pop- 
ular name for the Amer. lynx. 

Cat-call, A : unpleasant noises, made to 
disconcert speakers at a public meeting 


[Catchp^my 

or to express disapproval of a theatrical 
performance. 

Cat-and-dog life, A : a life filled with 
strife and quarrels, in allusion to the 
proverbial enmity between the two 
animals. \How a Man May Choose a 
Good Wife from a Bad, I, i (1602)] 
Cat-and-dog money : a ch^table fund 
administered at Christchurch, Spital- 
fields; traditionally believed in the 
first instance to have been used for the 
benefit of cats and dogs. 

Cataloon ; a fabric. After Catalonia, in 
Spain. 

Cat’s-eye, A : a precious stone, which, 
when held to the light, resembles the 
contracted pupil of a cat*s eye. 

Catspaw, A : a person used as a tool by 
another to serve his purposes. From 
the fable of the monkey that used the 
paw or foot of a cat to take the 
roasting chestnuts from the fire. The 
monkey is said to have belonged to 
Pope Julius II. [Grose, Dictionary of 
the Vulgar Tongue (1785)] 

Cat’s-sleep, A : sham sleep, like that of a 
cat watching a mouse. [Dekker and 
Webster, Northward Ho, III, ii 
(1607)] 

Catalan, A : a Chinaman ; a cheat. 
After Cataia (Cathay), an early name 
for China. Early travellers to China 
gave the people a reputation for 
stealing. 

Catch a crab. To : in rowing, to raise the 
oar out of the water before pulling it. 
From the crab-like appearance of the 
rower as he falls backward. 

Catch a hare. To seU an oz to : see Sell. 

Catch a Tartar, To : to be held up by a 
prisoner one has oneself taken ; to get 
more than one bargained for. From 
the story of the Irish soldier who took 
a Turk prisoner, and, on being ordered 
to bring him along, replied : * He 
won’t let me ! ’ and was then ordered 
to come on alone. 

Catch a weasel asleep. To : to attempt the 
impossible. The weasel is reputed to 
be always awake. 

Catdi the Whigs bathing. To : see Whigs. 

Catch the wind pdth a net. To : to 
attempt the impossible. 

Catchpenny, A : something of little or no 
value made up to attract cheap 
purchasers. Corruption of Catnach 
Penny, after James Catnach (1792- 
1841), a publisher of cheap and trashy 
literature which was hawked in the 
streets. 



Oatehpom 78 

Catchpoll (Catcihpole). A : a mmor offici^ 
of a Court of Justice. In use in 
England as early as 12th. cent. 

Cathay : the name given to Nortiieni 
China by Marco Polo. From Ifi-tab, 
the race that ruled in that region in 
loth cent. 

Cathay, A cycle of : a period of 60 years. 

Catherine’s tresses. To braid: to live 
and die a virgin. 

Catherine whe^ A : a revolving fire- 
work; a circular window; a somer- 
sault. After St. Catherine of Al^- 
andzia, who was martyred by being 
broken on the wheel. 

Catherine wheel politicians: time-serving 
politicians. 

Catherine wheel republics : * always in 
revolution while the powder lasts.* 
Jas. Russ^ Lowell {1819-91) in My 
Study Windows (1870). 

Catherine whe^ To tom a : to turn a 
somersault sideways, as di stin ct from 
backPTards and forwards. 

Catherine wheel window, A : a window, 
or compartaent of a window, of a 
circular form with radiating divisions 
or spokes. 

Catholic, A : a member of the Church 
which is imder the allegiaace of the 
Pope. Grk., KcUhoUkos, univer^^ 

Catholic Apostolic Church : a secessioi^t 
community founded by Edward Irving 
(1792-1834), the members of which 
are known as Irvingites. 

Catholic Association, !nLe : an association 
formed in 1823 by Daniel O'Connell to 
secure the emancmation of the Roman 
Catholics in the united Kingdom, 

Caiholio Uaiesty : a title of the kin^ of 
Spain ; conferred at the Council of 
Toledo in 590. 

Catholic Rent : an unofELdal tax levied 
inlreLandby Daniel O'Connell for the 
support of his Catholic Association 

Caihoilcs, Old : secessionists from the 
Catholic Church after the Vatican 
Council of 1870-1. 

Catiline^ A : a profligate conspirator. 
After Lucius Sergius CatiJina (109-62 
B.C.). 

Ezistenoc, A : an existence 
supported by conspiracy. A phrase 
used by Bismarck in a debate in the 
Prussian House of D^uties in 1863 ; 
also the title of a novel, published by 
Theodor Kdnig in 1854. 

Cat-lap : a non-intoxicat^g drink, such 
as tea ; that which a cat might lap. 


[Cave 

Cato, A: a self-denying, quiet-living 
man, blunt of spee^ and renowned 
for his devotion to justice and 
patriotism. After Marcus Portius 
Cato {P5*4^ B.C.). 

Cato’s meal : a model meal. 

Caucus, A : a private meeting of a 
political party, for the adoption of a 
programme or the selection of a 
canmdate ; the political machine 
which chooses candidates and lays 
down policies. Coined in the XJ.S. 
early in i8th cent. A suggested 
derivation is from the Caulkers' Club, 
in Boston, U.S., one of the elements in 
the Amer. Revolution; another is 
from Amer.-Ind. caw-cawwassoughes, 
elders. 

Caudine Forks : a crushing defeat. 
After the defile near Caudium in 
Samnium where the Romans sufiered 
an overwhdming defeat in the Second 
Samnite War (321 B.C.) . The defeat- 
ed army was forced to pass imder the 
yoke (forks). 

Caudle^ A Mrs. : see Curtain-Lecture. 

Caudle-cup, A : a warm drink given to 
invalids and also to their visitors. 
Lat., ceddus, warm. 

Caul on one’s head, To be bom with a : 
to be bom lucky. From the super- 
stition attaching to infants bom 
with a caul or membrane on their 
heads. 

Causa oausans {Lot., the cause causing) : 
the remote cause. 

Causa oausata {Lot., a cause caused) : 

a secondary cause. 

Cause of causes. The : love. 

Cause odlbbre, A (Fr., celebrated law- 
suit) : a lawsuit which attracts much 
attention. 

Causes The First : God, the Creator of 
the Universe. [Manasseh ben Israel, 
Vindiciae Judaeorum (1657)] 

Cause with • . To make oommou : to 
co-operate with . • 

Caution-money : money deposited as 
security for good conduct 

Cavaliers : supporters of Charles I, before 
and during the Civil War, the Party 
out of which grew the Tories. Fr., 
chevalier, knight. 

Ca va sans dire (Fk, that goes without 

’ saying) : that is a matter of course. 

Cave, A : see AduUamites. 

Cave Of Adullam : ^^sAduUam. 

Cave in. To : to submit ; to withdraw 
from. Lit., of walls, etc., falling in 
from want of support. 



79 


Cave] 

Cave canem {LaL, beware ot the dog 1) : 
an inscription frequently found on the 
thresholds of Roman houses. 

Cave, To cry : to give warning. Lat., 
Cave / beware ! 

Caveat against • . To enter a : to issue 
a warning against ; to lay down 
conditions. A legal process. Lat., 
caveat, let him beware. 

Caveat emptor {Lat., let the buyer 
beware) : a legal maxim : it is for the 
purchaser to assure himself {e.g., of the 
quality of the goods) he is about to buy, 

Cavendish’s wealth. Captain : in allusion 
to the wealth acquired by Thomas 
Cavendish in the course of his plunder- 
ing expedition to South America in 
1586-8. 

Caviare to the general: said of some- 
thing that is an acquired taste, not 
palatable to the majority. From 
caviare, the roe of the sturgeon, which 
is not pleasing to all tastes. [Shakes- 
peare, Hamlet, II, ii (1602)] 

Cayenne : hot red-pepper. After an 
island off the coast of Guiana. 

Ceca to Mecca, From : aimlessly ; from 
one end of the world to another. Both 
Ceca and Mecca are places of Mo- 
hammedan pilgrimage. Ceca (Arabic, 
the mint) was the name given by 
Christians to the mosque at Cordova. 
[Cervantes, Don Quixote, I, iii, 4] 

Cecil’s fast : a meal of fish. From the 
legislation introduced by William 
Cecil, Lord Burleigh, making com- 
pulsory the eating of fish on certain 
days. 

Cecrops, As noble as: according to 
tradition Cecrops was the first King 
of Athens and the introducer of 
civilization into Greece. 

Celestial, A : a European designation for 
a Chinaman. See Celestial Empire. 

Celestial (fity. The : Heaven. So-called 
by Bunyan in The Pilgrim* s Progress 
(1678). 

Celestial Empire, The : one of the native 
names for the Chinese Empire. The 
first Emperors were believed to be of 
divine origin. 

Centaur, To be a very : to ride fast. 

Centaur, A : a wild untamable creature ; 
an expert rider. After a fabulous 
race, hah£-man, half-horse, that is 
reputed to have lived in Thessaly. 

Centennial State, The : Colorado, ad- 
mitted into the Union in 1876, a 
century after the Declaration of 
Independence. 


[Chair 

Centipedes, The : the looth Regt. of 
Foot. After the insect popularly 
supposed to have 100 feet. 

Ceatre, The : a political party holding 
opinions half-way between the two 
extremes. In France, the Moderate 
Republicans ; in Germany, the Catholic 
Party. 

Century Plant, The : the agave, supposed 
to fiower only once in a hundred years. 
Not to be confused with ' centaury.' 

Cepola, Devices of : legal technicalities. 
After the devices of Bartholomew 
Cepola (d. 1474) the prolongation 
of lawsuits. 

Cerberug, A : a fierce, watchful guardian. 
Cerberus was the three-headed dog, 
the guardian of the entrance to Hades. 

Cerberus, A sop to : see Sop. 

Cerberus of the Muses, The : Lucian 
(120-80), Grk. writer and satirist, so- 
called by Scaliger. 

Cereal : a grain. After Ceres {q.v.). 

Ceremony, To stand on : to insist on the 
punctilious observance of formalities. 
[Shakespeare, Julius Ccesar, II, ii, 13 
(1601)] 

Ceres : Com. After the name of the 
Roman goddess of the harvest. 

Cervantic : in the style of Don Quixote, 
by Cervantes (1547-1616). 

Cesarevich, The : (i) the eldest son of 
the Tsar (Czar) ; (2) an Engl, horse- 
race, founded in 1839 in honour of 
Alexander II, then Cesarevich. 

Cess : see Bad Cess. 

Cess, Out of all : out of all measure. 
[Shakespeare, i Henry IV, II, i 
(1596-7)] 

Ceteris paribus {Lat., other things being 
equal) : assuming that other things 
are equal. 

Chadband, A : a canting hypocrite. 
After a character in Dickens, Bleak 
House (1852). 

Chaff : banter. In use as early as 17th 
cent. Either from (i) the proverb, 

‘ A bird is not caught with chaff ' ; or 
{2) to * chafe,* to worry. Another 
suggested derivation is from a custom 
in the North Midlands of emptying a 
sack of chaff at the door of a man who 
ill-treats his wife, to indicate that 
thrashing is done there. 

Chair, The : the office of President of a 
meeting, Speaker of the House of 
Commons, etc. Either a contraction 
of * chairman,* or the transference of 
the word denoting the principal seat 
to the person who occupies it. 



Chair] 

Ohair, Do pass the : to have been elected 
mayor. 

Chair, To t^e up the ; to assume the 
lead. [Rob. Johnson, Essayes : Of 

Ohato sL P^» The : the oflace of the 
Papacy, whose first incumbent was 
St. Peter. 

Chair-days : old age, spent to a con- 
siderable extent resting in a chair. 
[ShaJrespeare, 2 Henry Vl, V, ii 
(1593)] 

Chalcedony : a precious stone. From 
Chalcedon, in Asia Minor, where it was 
first discovered. 

nfiftMflftTij A: an astrologer; soo^- 
sayer. From Chaldea, whose in- 
habitants were reputed to be learned 
in magic. 

Caxalk from cheese, To know: to be 
wide-awake; to be conscious where 
one's advantage lies. [John Bow and 
Mast Person {1548)] See also Gower, 
Confessio Amantis (1393)1 * Lo ! how 
they feignen chaJk for cheese * ; 
Shaddock, Hatchet of Heresies (1565), 
* Do not these thynges differ as muche 
as chalcke and chese ' ; and Jno. 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546), ‘ as well 
agreeth the comparison in these, as a 
lyke to compare in tast, chalke and 
cheese.* 

it up. To t to make a public note 
of ; to advertise. From the practice 
of rTig^nring a customer's indebtedness 
on a slate that was hung up in the 
ale-house. 

Chalk of one and cheese of another. To 
twftkft : to show favouritism, to treat 
two people differently. 

To glue : ^ee Glue. 

Chalks, By long: to a large extent; 
greatly. In allusion to the use of 
ciia.llr in scoring at games. 

Ghalybean-tempered steel : in allusion to 
the Chalybes, an ancient race of Asia 
Minor, famous for its skill in working 
iron. [Milton, Samson Agonistes, 11, 
128-34 (1671)] 

Cham: a title applied to the Emperor of 
China and other Tartar and Monjgol 
rulers. A corruption of Khan, a title 
adopted by Chingiz (1162-1227) when 
he became ruler of the Mongols and 
Tartars. 

Cham of literature^ The Great : Samuel 
Johnson (1709-84), so-called by 
Smollett. 

Ghambres Ardentes (Fir., lighted 
chambers) : extraordinary tribunals 


[Ghautidleer 

under the French monarchy, held in 
rooms from which daylight was 
excluded. 

CHiameleon, To act as a ; Todhameleon- 
ize : to change one's opinions fre- 
quently ; to be inconstant. From the 
chameleon, a lizard which adapts its 
appearance to its environment. 
Chance, To have an eye to the main : 
to have one's own interest always in 
view. Metaphor drawn from the game 
of hazard. [Ben Jonson, The Case is 
Altered, IV, iv (1601)] 

Chancelleries of Europe, The : the 
diplomatists of Europe. From 
chancellery, the ofidcial residence of 
the Chancddor of a legation. 

Chancery, To get a person’s head in.: a 
term in pugilism, when the head is so 
held by the opponent as to be at his 
mercy. The helplessness of the 
litigant who gets into the Court of 
Chancery is w^ known. 

Chandra (Sanskrit) : the moon ; hence 
any illustrious person. 

Chaneph : a centre of hypocrisy. After 
the island of religious h3q)ocrites in 
Rabelais, Pantagruel (i533)* 

Change a fly into an dephant. To : to 
undertake an impossible task. An 
ancient Grk. proverb. 

Change (swop) horses while crosong a 
stream. To : to dtiange one's instru- 
ments or weapons in a time of extreme 
difidculty. Phrase attributed by 
Abraham I-incoln to a Dutch farmer. 

CbftTig A one’s copy. To : to alter one's 
tactics. [Rich. Edwards, Damon and 
Pithias, 11. 268-70 (1567)] 

Change out of . . To take the : to get an 
equivalent out of . . ; to get more 
th an an equivalent out of . * 

Change with every wind, To : to be very 
fickle. [Lyly, Euphues : Anatomy of 
Wit (1579)1 

Changes, To ring the : to r^eat the same 
words, actions, etc., with many slight 
variations. Metaphor from beU- 
ringing. [T. Adams, The Devil* s 
Banquet (1614)] In slang, to cheat 
by means of coins. 

IthuTignii de geste^ A (Fr,) : a Fr. heroic 
song of the nth to 15th cents. 

Chanmge : blackmail. A euphuism for 
singing to another man's tune, or 
paying blackmail under his pressure. 

Oh^tioleer, A : a name of the farm-yard 
cock. After the name of the cock in 
Reynard the Fox. Fr., chanter, to sing ; 
cler, dear. 



Chaonian] 

Chaonian Bird, The : the dove ; because 
it delivered the oracles of Chaonia. 

Chaonian food : acorns. In allusion to 
the oak-trees of Chaonia. 

Chaos, To speak of things more ancient 
than : see Speak. 

Chap, A : a man, or boy. Contraction 
of ' chapman,’ one who sold in a 
‘ chepe ’ (market). 

Chap-hook, A : a popular book sold in 
the streets and in villages by chapmen. 

Chap-fallen : see Chop-fallen. 

Chapel, A : an organization of printers’ 
journeymen. From the disused 
chapel of Westminster Abbey in 
which Caxton set up his printing- 
press. Their representative is called 
the ‘ Father.’ 

Chapter of Accidents, A : a series of un- 
expected events. From the form in a 
book divided into chapters in which 
the Roman laws were kept. 

Chapter, To the end of the : to the end. 
In allusion to the former practice of 
reading a complete chapter as the 
Lesson of the Church Service. [R. 
L’ Estrange, in 1704] 

Chapter of Possibilities, A : a series of 
possible happenings ; parallel with 
Chapter of Accidents. 

Chapter and verse. To give : to give 
precise references to an authority for 
a statement. [Earle, Microcos- 
mography, XLIII (1628)] 

Chare Thursday : the Thursday in 
Passion Week. Properly, Shere Thurs- 
day, the Thursday before Easter, from 
the former practice of shearing the 
sheep on that day. 

Charge, To return to the : to bring the 
conversation constantly back to the 
original topic. 

Charivari, A : a travesty of a serenade ; 
an orchestra of discordant noises 
intended to express the unpopularity 
of the victim of it ; a babel. 
Charlemagne of the East, The : 
Aurungzebe (1618-1707), Mogul 
Emperor. 

Charlemagne, The Second : see Second. 

Charles’ head. King : see King Charles. 

Charles’ Wain : a constellation also 
known as The Great Bear. After 
Charlemagne (Charles the Great). 
The constellation Arcturus was sup- 
posed to be connected with Eing 
Arthur; and the name of Charle- 
magne was therefore applied to a 
fellow-constellation. Another der. is 
from Ang.-Sax. churles, a farmer’s 


[Chaucer’s 

waggon, the constellation resembling a 
wagon in outline. 

Charley, A: a night watchman. Possibly 
because King Charles I reformed the 
watch-system of London in 1640. 

Charlie over the Water : the Young 
Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, in 
exile on the Continent. 

Charmed life, To bear a : to be impervious 
to harm, as if by magical protection. 
[Shakespeare, Macbeth, V, viii, 12-3 
(1606)] 

Charon, A : a ferr3rman. After the 
ferryman who ferried the souls of the 
dead to the Lower World. 

Chartered Libertine, A : the Eng. press. 
So-called by William Pitt, Earl of 
Chatham. Shakespeare [Henry V, 
I* i (1599)] refers to the air as a 
‘ chartered libertine.’ 

Chartist, A : an Eng. Radical reformer 
of the period, 1837-48. From ' The 
People’s Charter,’ a statement of the 
Chartists’ programme. 

Chartist Parson, The : Charles Kingsley 
(1819-75), clergyman and novelist, on 
account of his Chartist novel Alio7z 
Locke (1850). 

Chartreuse : a liqueur made by the 
Carthusian monks, formerly at La 
Grande Chartreuse, their principal 
house near Grenoble, France. From 
Cartusio, a neighbouring village. 

Charybdis : see Scylla and Charybdis. 

Chase, A stern : a pursuit in which one 
vessel follows directly in the wake of 
the other, i,e., keeps in a direct line 
with the other’s stem. 

Chassepot, A : a French breech-loading 
rifle. After the name of its inventor, 
Antoine Alphonse Chassepot (b. 1833). 

Chaste as Ice, As : [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, III, i, 136 (1602-3)] 

Chaste as an icicle, As : chaste with a 
suggestion of lack of feeling. [Shakes- 
peare, Coriolanus, V, hi, 1. 64 (1609)] 

Chastise the dead. To : to act in a futile 
manner. From an ancient Greek 
proverb. 

Chastise with scorpions. To : to punish 
with special severity. From the rule 
of Rehoboam, King of Judah, as 
described in I Kings, xii, ii. 

Chatterbox, A : one who talks incessantly. 

Chaucer of France, The : Clement 
Marot (1496-1544). 

Chaucer of Painting, The : Albert Diirer 
(1471-1528), Germ, painter. 

Chaucer’s Jest, A : an obscene or in- 
delicate act or remark. In allusion to 

G 



Ohamittcleer] 

some zLarratives in Chanoer, CanUfiuty 
Tales fXAth cent.). 

0 haTi]iiiCu 66 r» A l see Chanticleer. 

Ghaniaimiia : a sodLety for the promotion 
of home-readiiig and study. After 
Chautauqua, a summer-resort in New 
York State, where the Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle has met 
since 1874. . . 

Ohaavinxsm : exaggerated patriotism ; 
extreme Imperialism. After Chauvin, 
a character in Scribe, Soldat Labouteuv, 
fanatically devoted to N^oleon ; or 
from a character in JLa Coau^de 
Trocolare (1831) ^7 Theodore and 
lidppolyte Cogmard. 

Ghaw-oaobn, A : a country bumpkin. 
Bacon was at one time the only meat- 
food eaten by rustics. 

Ohawednp: demolished; chewed up. 

Gheap, Toinakeoiiesdf : to belittle one*s 
ovm importance ; to be too accessible 
to others. [Wm. Penn, Some Fruits 
of Solitude^ K. II, §203 (1718)] 

Cheap as the Sardinians^ As : in ahusion 
to the number of Sardinian prisoners 
brought to Rome by Tiberius Gracchus 
(177 B.C.). 

Cheap-Jack, A : a traveling hawker, who 
sells by Dutch auction, «.s., reduces the 
price of his wares until he finds a 
purchaser. Anglo-Sax. chops, a 
market. Sometimes Oheap-Joliii. 

Oheheek ; Chebaoco, A : a boat used in 
the Newfoundland fisheries. After the 
name of a North Amer. coast-town. 

Chedc-matet A : a final defeat. A term 
used in the game of chess, ^ers. 
Shah mat, the king is dead.) [roftw 
Mundus in Maligno Pontus, 11 , 37-40 

Chef^ff : a kind of cheese. Originally 
made at Cheddar, in Somerset. 

Chediem^ A : a kind of wig. After a 
French wig-maker. 

Cheek by Jowl: side by side. [Du 
Bartas, First Weeh, First Day (1578)] 

Chedc to the smlter. To offer the : to be 
meek and formving under a wrong. 
Zh allusion to Mathew, v, 39. 

Gheeits, the marine: a non-existent 
person. Invented by Captain Frederick 
Mairyat. [Peter Simple, ch. vii (1834)] 
Gheetyble^ A; Ohe^ble Brothm: 
kind-hearted philanthropists, who do 
good as a pleasure. Aiw characters 
m Dickens, Nicholas NickU^ (1838). 

Oheeeeparer, A : a mean, paisimanious 
person who might pare the last shied 
of cheese from the rind. 


82 [Chestexfidd 

Cheeseparing (eoonomy) : niggardliness. 
Cheese-toaster, A : a sword. InaUusion 
to an implement for toasting cheese. 
Chef d’oeuvre^ A (JFr., chief piece of 
work) : a masterpiece. [J. Chamber- 
lain, Court and Times of James I 

(1619)1 

Chdsea, As dead as : sea Dead. 

Cheque, To give a blank : see Blank. 
Cherihez la femme (Fr., find the womans ; 
a suggestion that a woman is at the 
bottom of every trouble. Phrase 
attributed to Gabriel de Sartine (1729- 
1801), Fr. Lieut,-Gen. of Police. 
[Dumas, Les Mohicans de Paris, 
III, 7 (1854) ; Richardson, Sir Charles 
Grandtson, Letter 24 (1754)] 

Oherethi and Pelethi : the Parties in 
Israel that remained faithful to David 
when he fled before the revolt of his 
son, Absalom. 

Cherry Breeches: the ixth Hussars. 
On account of the (»>lour of their 
trousers. 

Cherry Fair, A : a symbol of the brevity 
of life and the ephemeral character of 
its pleasures. After the fairs, the 
occasion of boisterous enjoyment, 
held in cherry-orchards in Worcester- 
shire and elsewhere. 

Choery FktkerSt The : the xzth Hussars, 
cashed by the French in the 
Peninsular War while robbing an 
orchard. 

Cheney, To make two bites of a: to 
divide into two instalments a task 
which could easily be performed in one 
(deration. [Biacciolini, Lo Schema 
degli Dei, IV, 30] 

Gheral^ A: a beautiful child. The 
biblical name of a class of angels, 
(henibixiui. The : the xith Hussars. A 
pun on their chenr-ccdoured trousers. 
ipheridAmisihe'plm^ the 

final 5 is redundant.) 

Cheshire Cat, To grin like a : a simile 
pcDpulaiized by 'Lewis Carroll* in 
AUce in Wonderland (1863). From 
the Cheihire cheese which was orig. 
moulded in the form of a cat. Other 
derivations are from (i) the unhappy 
results of a sign-painter*s attempt to 
paint Eons on some sign-boards ; {2} 
the result of a similar attemj^ to 
depich the arms of the Grosvenor 
fa^y (of Cheshire), a wolf. {First 
used Dy Peter Pindar in x8th cent.] 
Cheshira Bound, A : a xongh dance. 
Chesteefidd, A : a well-staf ed sofa with 
two npri^t ends ; an overcoat with 



Chestnut] S3 [Children 


long skirts. After an Earl of Chester- 
field. 

Chestnnt, A : (i) a kind of nut, from 
Kastana in Pontus ; (2) a hackneyed 
anecdote or joke, from a story of a 
chestnut-farm in America frequently 
told by the Amer. painter, E. A. 
Abbey (1852-1911). An alternative 
derivation is given in the following 
quotation from the Philadelphia Press : 

‘ There is a melodrama, but little 
known to the present generation, 
written by William Dillon and called 
The Broken Sword. There were two 
characters in it — one a Captain Xavier 
and the other, the comedy-part of 
Pablo. The captain is a sort of Baron 
Miinchausen, who, in telling of his 
exploits, sd.ys : “I entered the woods 
of CoUaway when suddenly from the 

thick boughs of a cork-tree 

Pablo interrupts him with the words : 
“A chestnut, captain, a chestnut." 
“ Bah I " replies the captain ; "Booby, 
I say a cork-tree.'* " A chestnut,** 
reiterates Pablo. " I should know as 
well as you, having heard you tell the 
tale these twenty-seven times." 
William Warren (1812-88) who had 
frequently played the part of Pablo, 
hearing a s^e anecdote narrated at a 
dinner-party, interrupted with a quo- 
tation nrom the play, and the phrase 
"A chestnut** immediately became 
popular.* 

Chesmni Sunday : a Sunday in May, 
when the chestnut trees in Bushey 
Park, nr. Hampton Court, are in full 
bloom, and ' aU London ' goes to see 
them. 

Chestnnts out of the frre. To pnll the : to 
act as the tool of another. From the 
fable of the cat who used the monkey's 
hands for the purpose. 

Oheval de Bataille, A {Fr„ battle-horse) ': 
a strong argument. 

Ohevaliery A : a member ol an Order of 
iOiighthood. Orig. a horseman, or 
knight. 

GhevaHer* The : see Chevalier de St. 
George. 

Chevalier of Fortune^ A : a Chevalier 
d'Industrie {q.v.). 

Chevalier d^fridnsixie, A (Fr., knight of 
industry) ; an adventurer ; one who 
lives by his wits. 

Chevalier de St George^ The: James 
Stuart, the Old Pretender (1688-1766). 
Chevalier sans Penr et sans Beproche» Le : 
Pierre du Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard 


(1473-1524), a Fr. hero ; so-called by 
his anonymous biographer, ' Loyal 
Serviteur.' 

Chevalier, The Young : Charles Edward 
Stuart, the Young Pretender (r 720-88). 

Chevaux de Prize (Fr., Friesland horses) : 
a row of spikes at right angles to the 
ground. An epithet contemptuously 
applied, in xyth cent., by the French to 
the Dutch, who had no cavalry. 

Cheveril conscience, A : an elastic 
conscience. From cheveril, a soft 
kid leather. [Burton, Anaiomy of 
Melancholy, Pt. Ill, Sect, iv, Memb. 
ii. Sub-sect. 3 (1621) ; Shakespeare, 
Henry VIII, II, iii (1612-3)] 

Cheviot : a doth made from riie wool of 
the sheep bred on the Cheviot Hills. 

Chevy (Chivy), To: to chase. From 
Chevy Chace, an incident in the Battle 
of Otterbum (1388). Fr. chevaucMe, 
a raid. 

Chew the cud. To: to cogitate over. 
From the action of chewing the cud by 
certain quadrupeds. [Shakespeare, As 
You Like It, IV, iii, 11. 101-2 (1600)] 

CMabreresco : poetry which follows the 
Grk. model. After Gabriel Chiabrera 
(1552-1637), ' The Pindar of Italy/ 

Chic (Fr.) : stylish, attractive. Possibly 
from ' chicane,* tact, skill. 

Chichevache: a fabulous beast that 
devoured submissive wives. Old Fr., 
chicheface, ugly-face. 

Chicken, No : (of a person) not young. 
[Swift, Stella* s Birthday (1720)] 

Chicken of St. Nicholas, The : the lady- 
bird, so-called by the Piedmontese. 

Chickens before they are hatched. To 
count one’s : see Count one's chickens. 

Chicken-hearted : as timorous as a 
chicken. [Bunyan, Pilgrim* s Progress, 
Pt. II (1684)] 

Chi&ey-bit, A : a kind of horse's-bit 
invented by Samuel Chiffney (1753- 
1807), a jockey. 

Child away along with the bath. To throw 
the : to throw away the good with the 
bad, from a German saying. 

Child’s-play, Mere : a very simple task, 
comparable to the play of children. 

Childermas Bay: December 28th, the 
festival of the Holy Innocents in 
commemoration of the slaughter of the 
children by Herod. 

Childhood, Second : dotage ; the period 
of failing faculties in extreme old age. 

Children of the 2Sist: Scottish high- 
landers. In allusion to the mists 
prevalent in the north of Scotland. 



CMidien] $4 

Cbildxen of the West, The : the 
Americans. 

Ohiltem Hundreds, The : Burnham, 
Desborough, and Stoke, the steward- 
ship of which is a sinecure of&ce, used 
as a means of withdrawal from 
•m ftm hftrcthip of the Housc of Commous. 
The constitution of Parliament does 
not permit of resignation, but a 
member on accepting an office of profit 
under the Crown vacates his seat. 
Orig. the stewardship of the Chiltem 
Hundreds carried with it the responsi- 
bility of suppressing the robbers who 
infested the Chiltem Hills. 

Chimera, A: an imaginary goal; an 
empty fancy. After a mythical 
monster, a combination of lion, goat, 
and dragon, described by Homer. 

Chimney Money : a tax on chimneys 
imposed during the reigns of Charles II 
and James II. 

Chimney-corner Legend, A ; an idle tale, 
suitable to be narrated by the fireside 
in winter in order to while away the 
time. 

Chimney-pot hat, A : a tall black-silk 
hat. From its supposed resemblance 
to a chimney-pot. 

Chin-music: chatter. An Americanism. 

flhiTia : earthenware. Porcelain manu- 
facture was introduced into Europe 
from China. 

China to Peru, From : from one end of 
the earth to the other. [Johnson, 
Vanity of Human Wishes, 11 . 1-2 
(1749) ; Voltaire, Lettres en Vers et en 
Prose (1755)] ^ ^ X • 

China-town : any urban distnct in- 
habited mainly by Chinese. 

Chinee, The Heathen : see Heathen. 

Chinese Gordon : Gen. Chas. Geo. 
Gordon (1833-85), also known as 
Gordon of Khartoum. On account of 
his services to China in the suppression 
of the Taeping Rebellion in 1863. 

Chinese wall, A : an obstacle, very diffi- 
cult to overcome. After the great 
medieval wall which bounds the north 
of China proper. 

Chip of the old block, A : one who closely 
resembles his father generally, or in 
some spedsil characteristic. Perhaps 
in allusion to the * family tree.' 
[Dick of Devonshire (1626)] 

Chippend^ : furniture made by or in 
the style of Thos. Chippendale (d.1779). 

Chitty-faced (Fr. chicheface, thin face) : 
with thin , pinched face ; with a face 
like a baby's. 


[Ghoitle 

Chivan, To play the: to run away 
headlong. 

Chivy, To : to worry and pursue. From 
Cheviot, in which Border re^on there 
used to be frequent cattle-driving and 
consequent ch^es. See also Chevy. 

Chloe, A : a country-girl ; a shepherdess. 
After a character in the Grk. romance, 
Daphnis and Chloe, by Longus. 
[Horace, Odes, I, 23 ; III, 26 ; Sidney, 
Arcadia (1590)] 

Chocolate solffier, A : a soldier whose 
uniform and status are of more conse- 
quence than the demands of warfare. 
After one of the characters in Bernard 
Shaw, Arms and the Man (1894). 

Choice Spirit, A : a young man of 
d^hion, esp. one who carries the 
prevalent fashions to extremes. [Gold- 
smith, The Good-mcUured Man, III, ii 
(1768)] 

Choke off, To : to check abruptly ; to 
prevent ; as if gripping a dog by the 
throat to compel him to relax his hold. 

Choke-pear : an obstruction, difficult or 
impossible to overcome. Lit., the 
name of an unpalatable pear. [G. 
Harvey, Letter Book, 8 (1573)] 

Choker, A : a neckerchief, esp. a largo 
one. 

Choker, A White: a clergyman. In 
allusion to the white tie which forms 
part of his uniform. 

Chop and change. To : to change. 

* Chop ' has been introduced for 
alliterative and strengthening pur- 
poses. [Ascham, Tox^hiltis, Bk. I 

(1545)] 

Chop logic, To : to argue. [Heywood, 
Provevhes (1546)] 

Chops of the Channel, The : the entrance 
into the Eng. Channel from the 
Atlantic Ocean where the sea is esp. 
restless or ‘ choppy.' 

Chop-chnrch, A : one who dealt in 
ecclesiastical patronage. 

Chop-fallen : chap-fallen ; dejected ; 
defeated in a contest. Lit., with the 
lower jaw hanging down. [Killigrew, 
The Parson* $ Wedding, V, iv (1663)] 

Chopine, A : (Span, chapin), a shoe 
raised above the ground by es^ger- 
ated heels and soles, in fashion in 
Spain emd Italy at the beginning of 
17th cent. 

Chopped Hay : unsubstantial learning. 

Chorlle, To : to express pleasure loudly ; 
to buckle and laugh. A word in- 
vented by Lewis Ciroll in Through 
the Looking Glass (1872). 



Cilorus] 85 

Chorus, A : a body of singers singing in 
unison ; a portion of a song to be sung 
by the company generally ; in drama, 
the character that speaks the prologue 
and the epilogue of the play. Grk. 
choros. 

Chose 3ug6e, A (Fr., judged cause) : a 
matter that has been decided and 
should therefore not be re-opened. 
Introduced into England at the time 
of the Dreyfus Affair (1894). 

Chosen People, The : the Jews. On 
account of the divine promises made to 
them. 

Chouans, The : the Royalist insurgents 
in Brittany during the period of the 
French Revolution. From chouan 
{chat huant, screech owl), the nickname 
of one of the leaders, Jean Cottereau. 

Chouse, To : to cheat ; to trick. From a 
Turldsh chiaous or interpreter, who 
perpetrated a notorious swindle in 
London in 1609. 

Chrisom chUd, A : a child of not more 
than a month. From the chrisom 
cloth it wears at baptism. 

Chriss-cross : see Criss-cross. 

Chiiss-cross Row : see Criss-cross Row. 

Christ Church Bells : an old dance. 

Christian Cicero, The : Lactantius 
Firmianus (c. 260-340). After Cicero 
(106-43 B.C.) who was one of the 
greatest of the Roman orators. 

Christian, To forgive as a : not to 
forgive at all. [Scott, Ivanhoe, ch. 32 
(1830)] 

Christian King, The most : a title of the 
kings of France, conferred by Pope 
Stephen III (714-68). 

Christian name, A : the personal name 
given at christening. 

Christian Seneca, The : J oseph Hall (1574- 
1656), Eng. satirist and Bishop of 
Norwich. After Lucius Annaeus 
Seneca (B.C. 3-65 A.D.), who was the 
most eminent of the Latin writers of 
the Silver Age. 

Christian Virgil, The : Marco Girolamo 
Vida (1490-1566). After Virgil (70-19 
B.C.), who was one of the greatest 
of the Latin poets. 

Christian Volume, The : see Volume. 

Christians, New : see New. 

Christmas box, A : a money present 
given at Christmastime ; orig, the 
earthenware box in which contribu- 
tions were collected by apprentices at 
Christmas time. 

Christmas King (Prince), A : a Christmas 
Lord (^.^^.). 


[Churpatties 

Christmas Lord, A : the Lord of Msrule 
(q,v,), at one time elected at Christmas 
time. 

Christy Minstrels : negro or imitation- 
negro minstrels. The troupe organ- 
ized by Edwin P. (1815-1862) and 
George N. Christy (1827-1868) in 
America. 

Chronicle Small Beer, To : to busy one- 
self with matters of little importance. 
Small beer is beer of inferior quality. 
[Shakespeare, Othello, II, i (?i6o4)] 

Chronigue scandaleuse, A {Fr.) : a 
narrative of scandals. 

Chrononhotonthologos, A : a bombastic 
talker. After a character in Henry 
Carey’s burlesque of that name 

(1734)- 

Chronos, As old as : Chronos, in Grk. 
mythology, was the personification of 
time. 

Chuck, To teach a hen to : see Teach. 

Chuckle-headed : stupid. From chuckle, 
big and clumsy. 

Chuff-headed : with a big, fat head ; 
stupid. [Nash, Pierce Penilesss (1592)] 

Chum, A : a close associate. Possibly 
an abbrev. of ' chamber-fellow.’ 
[1684] 

Chump, To be off one’s : to be out of 
one’s mind. ' Chump,’ a synonym for 
the head, is a block of wood. 

Chun^e, A la : of great size. After 
Chunee, the largest elephant ever 
brought to England (1810.) 

Church ale, A : a joyful village gathering 
on a holiday. From the Se formerly 
brewed by churchwardens for such 
occasions. 

Church Invisible, The : those who are 
known only to God as his children. 

Church Parade, A : a fashionable 
promenade on Sunday mornings after 
church-time. 

Church Triumphant, The : Christians 
who have died and, having fought the 
fight, are now triumphant in heaven. 

Church Visible, The : the general body 
of Christians. 

Church’s wet nurse, The : Queen Anne. 
On account of her endowment of 
' Queen Anne’s Bounty,* so-called by 
Horace Walpole. [Letters, Vol. VII] 

Churchwarden, A : a long clay pipe. 
Formerly smoked by churchwardens 
at their business-meetings. 

Churchyard cough, A : a cough that 
suggests early death and consequent 
possible burial in a churchyard. 

Churpatties : small cakes circulated in 



Cicero] 86 

India immediately before the outbreak 
of the Indian Mutiny and believed to 
^have given the signal for the revolt. 

Cicero, A : an eminent statesman, 
philosopher and orator. After Marcus 
Tuilius Cicero (106-43 B.C.). 

Cicero of France, The : J ean Baptiste 
Massillon (1663-1742), Fr. preacher and 
bishop. 

Cicero of the British Senate, The ; George 
Canning (1770-1827), Prime Minister 
^ of EnglancjL. 

Cicero, The British : William Pitt, Earl 
of Chatham (1708-78), Prime Minister 
of England. 

Cicero, The Christian : Lucius Coelius 
Lactantius (260-340). 

Cicero, The Cerman : Johann Sturm 
,(1507-^9)^ Germ, divine. 

Cicero of Germany, The : John III, 

Elector of Brandenburg (1455-99). 

Cicero’s Mouth : Philippe Pot (1428-94), 
Prime Minister to Louis XI of 
France. 

Cicerone, A : a learned guide to objects 
of interest. From Cicero, the Roman 
orator (106-43 B.C.), in allusion to his 
learning and eloquence. 

CM, The : the Spanish Champion of 
Christendom, Don Roderigo Dias de 
Bivar, El Campeador (1040-99). The 
title Cid is the Arab. Said, lord and 
conqueror, as which he was acknow- 
ledged by five Moorish chieftains after 
one battle. 

Cid, The Portuguese : Nunez Alvarez 
Pereira (1360-1431), general and 
diplomatist. 

Cider Country (Land), The : Hereford- 
shire and Worcestershire. On account 
of the number of their apple- 
orchards. 

Ci-devants {Fr., formerly) : the members 
of the titled classes after they had been 
deprived by the French Revolutionists 
^ of their titles. 

Cimmerian darkness : extreme darkness. 

In allusion to the Cimmerii, a fabulous 
people who dwelt in perpetual dark- 
ness. 

Cinchona : quinine. After the Countess 
of Chincon, wife of a Viceroy of Peru, 
who was cured of a fever by the bark 
of the cinchona tree (c. 1640). 

Cinchmatus, The American : George 
Wa.sliington. After Lucius Quinctius 
Cincinnatus (519-438, B.C.), saviour of 
Rome, who was fetched from his 
labours in the fields to assume the 
supreme power. 


[Cisalpine 

Cincinnatus of the West, The : William 
Henry Harrison, 9th President of the 
U.S. (1797-1801). 

Cinderella, A : (i) (of a girl) a despised 
and ignored, yet virtuous member of a 
company of equals ; after the heroine of 
the fairy-tale, -^ho, although repressed 
and ill-treated by her two sisters, 
ultimately married the Prince ; (2) a 
dancing-party which terminates at 
midnight ; from the fairy tale of 
Cinderella, who had to return home 
from the Prince’s ball by midnight. 

Cinderella of the Arts, The : architec- 
ture. 

Cinane Port, A : one of the five (Fr., 
cinque) ports : Hastings, Romney, 
Hythe, Dover and Sandwich, to which 
were afterwards added Winchelsea and 
Rye. Sussex and Kent ports en- 
dowed as early as the reign of Edward 
the Confessor with special privileges, 
in return for which they were called 
upon to take a leading part in naval 
defence. 

Cinquecento, The : the i6th century in 
its art and literature. Italian 500 = 
the century commencing in the year 
1500. This was the period of Ariosto, 
Tasso, Raphael, Titian, Michael 
Angelo, Machiavelli, and other famous 
men. 

Circe, A : a dangerously fascinating 
woman. After the mythological Grk. 
sorceress. 

Circe of the Revolution, The : Madame 

^ Roland (i 754-93)* 

Ciicean : see Circe. 

Circumbendibus, A : a circumlocution. 
A word invented by Dryden (1681), 
from circum, around and bend,’ with 
the ablative plural termination. 
[Dryden, The Spanish Friar, V, ii 
(1681)] 

Circumlocution, A : a clumsy, involved 
manner of expressing oneself. [Barclay, 
Mirror of Good Manners (1510)] 
Circumlocution Office, A : a Government 
Department or Ojfice. Because its 
‘ red tape ’ — i.e., the observance of 
innumerable formalities — causes ex- 
cessive and quite unnecessary delay. 
After the name of a Government De- 
partment in Dickens, Little Dorrit 

,(1855). 

Circumquaque : a circumlocution {q.v.). 

Cisalpine Republic, The : a State formed 
by Napoleon in 1796 out of the 
conquered northern provinces of 
Italy. 



Cisley] 87 [Civis 


Cisley, A : a daii^aid [Tusser, A 
Huiidretk Good Pointes of Husbandrie 

(1557)] 

Cistern, A : a reservoir for water, etc. 
From cista, the basket in which were 
carried the sacred vessels at the 
Eleusinian Mysteries. 

Cit, A: a citizen or townsman (con- 
temptuously). [Cleveland, Rupeitis- 
mits (1644)] 

Cities, The Seven : Cairo, Jerusalem, 
Babylon, Athens, Rome, Constanti- 
nople, London (or Paris). 

Citizen King, The : Louis Philippe, King 
of the French, the first elected King 
of France. 

Citizen of Nature, A : one who feels him- 
self at home in all countries. 

Citizen of the World, A : a cosmopolitan ; 
one who regards — ^politically and 
morally — the whole civilized world as 
a unit. The phrase was apparently 
coined by Socrates (468-399 B.C.). 
It was also used as a nom-de-plume by 
OHver Goldsmith (1728-74). 

City, In the ; in business. ‘ The City ' 
indicates the City of London. 

City College, The : Newgate prison. 
Formerly situated in the City of 
London. 

City Company, A : one of the Corporation 
guilds of the City of London. 

City Editor, A : the financial editor of a 
newspaper. 

City Father, A : one of the governing 
body of a city ; an alderman of the 
City of London. 

City Golgotha, The : old Temple Bar, on 
which the heads of traitors used to be 
exhibited. Hebr. Golgotha is * the 
place of skulls.' 

Ci^ of Bells, The : Strassburg, in Alsace. 

aty of Brotherbr Love, The : Philadel- 
phia, which in Grk. means * brotherly 
love.' 

City of Churches, The : Brooklyn, New 
York. On account of the number of 
churches it contains. 

City of David, The : Jerusalem. [II Sam., 
V, 7» 9 ] 

City of Elms, The : New Haven, 
Connecticut. On account of the 
number of elm-trees in its streets. 

City of God, The : (i) Paradise ; (2) the 
Church, or the whole body of believers. 

City of Magnificent Distances, The : 
Washington. On account of its wide 
and long avenues. 

City of Masts, The : London. Owing to 
its great shipping industry. 


of the Midnight Sun, The : London, 
in allusion to its night-pleasures. 

City of Monuments, The: Baltimore, 
U.S. On account of the number of 
monuments in it. 

City of Oaks, The : Raleigh, N. Carolina ; 
which has many oak-trees in it. 

City of Palaces, The : (i) Calcutta ; 
(2) Imperial Rome ; (3) Petrograd. 

City of Refuge, A : an * alsatia ' or place- 
of-refuge for criminals as well as the 
innocent. From the cities set apart 
when the Holy Land was occupied by 
the Hebrews as places of refuge for 
fugitives. 

Ci^ of Refuge, The : Medina in Arabia, 
in which M^omet took refuge in the 
year 622. 

Ci^ of St. Michael, The: Dumfries, 
whose Patron Saint is St. Michael. 

City of Saints, The : Montreal, whose 
streets are named after saints. 

City of the Great King, The : Jerusalem. 
[Psalms, xlviii, 2 ; Matthew, v, 35] 

City of the Prophet, The : Medina, the 
burial-place of Mahomet. 

City of the Seven Hills, The : Rome, in 
Elusion to the seven hills, the Aven- 
tine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, 
Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal, on 
which the city was originally built. 

City of the Sun, The : (i) Baalbec, the 
centre of the worship of the Sun-God ; 
(2) Rhodes, whose tutelar deity was 
the Sun; (3) Heliopolis in Eg3npt, 
on account of its Temple of tiie 
Sun. 

City of the Tribes, The : Galway, 'the 
residence of the thirteen tribes.' 

City of the Violated Treaty, The: 
Limerick. On account of the frequent 
breaches of the treaty of 1691. 

City of the Violet Crown, The : Athens ; 
the violet being the symbol of the 
city. [Aristophanes, etc.] 

City of Victory, The : Cairo. 

City, The : the City of London, esp, the 
business-districts of London. 

City, The Celestial : see Celestial. 

Ciiy, The Eternal : see Eternal. 

City, The Heavenly : Paradise. 

City, The Holy : see Holy City. 

Civis Romanus sum {Lat., I am a Roman 
citizen) : phrase used by Cicero 
(106-43 B.C.) in his sixth oration 
against Verres, an expression of the 
pride, courage and steadfastness of a 
citizen of Rome. The phrase was 
quoted by Lord Palmerston in the 
House of Commons on 25th June, 



Civvies] 88 [Clenchpoop 


1850, in defending his action in the 
Pacifico case. 

Civvies, To he dressed in: to wear 
civilian costume. The phrase arose 
during the European War of 1914-18. 

daci-dish, A : a wooden receptacle with 
a cover carried by beggars and used 
as a means of attracting the attention 
of the ahns-giver. 

daimant. The : Arthur Orton, an 
Australian butcher, who claimed to be 
the lost Sir Roger Tichboume ; con- 
victed of perjury in 1874. 

danjam&ay. The whole : the mob ; the 
rabble. Scottish. 

Clan-na*Gki^ The : an Irish secret 
political Society founded in 1881 to 
secure the separation of Ireland from 
Britain. Known also as * The United 
Brotherhood.* 

dap-bread : a thin oatmeal cake. Lit., 
bread clapped (patted thin). 

Clapham Se(^ The : a sect of Evangelical 
Christians. From the district in 
Inndon in which it centred in the late 
1 8th cent. 

dapperolaw. To : to scratch with “tte 
open hand ; to abuse ; to beat. Lit., 
to claw with the clapper. Also ' caper- 
claw' [Shakespeare, Tfoilus 

and Cressida, V, iv (1606)] 

dapper dudgeon, A : a beggar. From 
the clap-dish which beggars formerly 
carried, [Heywood, 1 King Edward IV 
(1600)] 

dap-shoulder, A : an o&cer of justice, 
who, when making an arrest, places his 
baud on the prospective prisoner’s 
Moulder. 

dap-trap : cheap, insincere action or 
words intended to attract support. 

darence, A : a four-wheeled carriage. 
After the Duke of Clarence, aiterwarc^ 
William TV. 

daiendon : a kind of printing-rirpe. 
After the Clarendon Press, at Oxford, 
where it was introduced. 

Class, Ro : see No Class. 

Class, The Lower ISiddle: the lower 
division of the middle class of the 
population, consisting mainly of trades- 
people, clerks, etc. 

Gl^Ki,^e Upper Middle : the second class 
in society, consisting of the richer pro- 
fessional and mercantile classes. 

Classes, The : the upper or highest class 
in society. 

Classes and MaiKies, The: the people asa 
whole, viz., the Upper and Middle 
Classes and the mass of the people. 


Phrase used by W. E. Gladstone 
(1809-98), and previously by Thos. 
Moore (1779-1852) in The Fudges in 
England (1835). 

Claw-back, A : a flatterer. Lit., one who 
claws (strokes down) another’s back. 
[Latimer, Sermons (1549)] 
Claw-hammer coat, A : an evening-dress 
tail-coat. It resembles a claw- 
hammer, i.e., a hammer with a claw 
for extracting nails. 

Clay in the hands of the potter. As : easily 
influenced or moulded. [Jeremiah, 
xviii, 6 ] 

Clay, Human : human beings. In 
allusion to Genesis, ii, 7. 
day, A yard of : a churchwarden (pipe), 
q.v. 

dean breast of; To make a : see Breast, 
hands, To have : to be quite 
innocent in a certain matter. 

Clean life. To live a : to live a blameless, 
virtuous life. 

dean pair of heels. To show a : to run 
away suddenly. 

dean sheet, A : a clear record, 
dean slate, With a ; see Slate. 

Clear as crystal. As : [1300] 
dear as the day, As : [Wager, Rep. of 
Mary Magd. (1566)] 

Clear as daylight, As: perfectly plain. 
[Starkey, England in the Reign of 
King Henry VlII, 130] 
dear as noonday. As : absolutely plain. 
[Peter Pindar, An Academie Ode 

(1797)] 

Clear out for Guam, To : not to be bound 
for an3rwhere in particular. In the 
rush to the Australian gold-fields ships 
were chartered to convey passengers 
outwards without having any definite 
cargo for the return journey. To seek 
this they used to sail from port to port. 
On leaving Melbourne, however, the 
captain had to state a destination, and 
for this purpose the name of Guam, a 
small island in the Ladrones, was 
usually given. 

deargzits, The : the Canadian advocates 
of annexation to the U.S. in the 
middle of igth cent, 
deave the donds. To : to act foolishly 
and to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

demency Canning : Charles John, Earl 
Canning (1812-62), Governor-General 
of India. On account of his alleged 
extreme clemency to the Indian rebds. 
denchpoop, A : a term of contempt ; 
orig. the designation of an artizan. 



89 


Gtedc] 


[Ooadi 


[Rob. Wilson, Thru Ladies of London, 
II, 1 . 62 (1584)] 

ClsEkoftbe Weather, The: an imaginary 
of&dal supposed to control weather- 
conditions. 

C0i(^4, A : a hackneyed phrase or word. 

Fr., clicher, to stereot^e. 
diCQUOi, EiJig : Frederick WiUiam IV 
of Prussia. A name given to him in 
England. 

dimaoterie, The Grand : the 63rd year, 
supposed to be a critical one in human 
life. Seven and nine were the 
Climacteric Numbers, which had a 
fatal influence, and over whidi Saturn, 
the malevolent planet, was said to 
preside. Hence the 63rd (7x9) was 
considered especially fatal. 

(Simh the waves. To : to put out to sea. 

[Virgil, Mneid, Bk. I, 1 . 381] 
nwwh down. To : to abandon an attitude 
or view that one has adopted, 
dinoher (dencher], A: a conclusive 
argument. From ‘ clinch * or ' dench,' 
to fasten securdy. 

ffliTtk, A ; a small prison. The name of 
a once famous prison in Southwark, 
dip the Eing^s EngUah, To : to speak 
corruptly. [Rich. Edwards, Damon 
and Pitnias (1567)] 

dip the wings of . * To : to reduce the 
power or eificiency of . « [Peter 
Pindar, Ode Upon Ode (1785)] 
doaca, A : a sewer. After the name of 
a sewer in ancient Rome. 

Cloai^ A : a cover ; concealment ; 
disguise. [Lyly, Endimion, II, i 

(1591)] 

doak for the rain. A: an excuse. 
[Rich. Taverner, Proverbu of Erasmus 
1 ^ 55 ^)} 

doak and Sword plays: plays of modem 
life. The cloak and swoid were part 
of the ordinary Spanish costae, 
when the phrase was invented, 
doak Sword romanoes : romances 
of adventure. 

doak for every rain. To have a : to have 
an expedient for every requirement. 
[W. R., A Match at Midnight, 111 , i 
(i<533)] 

dod-hopper. A: an agriculturist; an 
awkward man. One who walks over 
ploughed fields, or hops among the 
clods of earth. 


dootiA Anld: the Devil. Scot., cloot, 
a cloven hool 

dose»Tohe: to be reserved. [Desiruc- 
Hon of Troy, 3939 ( 1400)] Later, to be 
stingy. 


dose trade, A : one that is confined to 
a few business firms that act in agree- 
ment. 

dose-fisted : mean. Lit., with the hand 
tightly closed. [Lewis Machin, The 
Dumb Knight, V, i (1608)] 
dose-time : a period during which it is 
illegal to kill certain game, 
dosh, fibnkeer : see Myuhoesr Closh. 
dotti. The: the clergy. {Swift, Mrs. 

Harris’s Petition (1710)] 
doth Breeches : members of the Lower 
or of the Middle Class. Formerly their 
distinctive dress. 

doth. To out the coat according to one’s : 

see Coat. 

dothes for fishes. To make : su Make, 
dothea while hatbing. To steal: see 
Whigs. 

dead. Under a : in trouble ; under 
suspicion. (1500 A.D.] 
donds. In the: vague; obscure; 
imaginary. LaX^innuhilms. [Selden, 
Laws of England (1649}] 
donds. To deave the : su Qeave. 
donds, To firam the: to appear 
suddenly and from an entirdy un- 
expected quarter. 

doud-cuckoo-land : an idealistic scheme 
of refonn. After Nephdokokuggia in 
Aristophanes, The Clouds, 
doven hoof (foot). To diow ihe: to 
display an intention. In Christian 

art Satan is dq>icted with a cloven 
hoof. 

dover. To he in : to be in a very com- 
fortable situation ; like a cow in a 
clover-field. 

dub Land : that part of West London 
in which most of the principal dubs 
are located, i.e., Pall Mall and St. 
James’ Street 

dnb Law : government by force ; the 
law of the dub, used to enforce 
obedience. 

dumber, A : a species of spaniel. After 
the seat of the Duke 01 Newcastle in 
Nottinghamshire. 

dusier-fistk A ; a mean, grasping person. 

[Cotgrave, DicHonary (1611)] 
dutch-fist, A : a niggard. [Cartwright, 
Ordinary (i6ji)] 

Oly-fake^To: to pick pockets. Thieves* 
slang. Pkom ^dy,* a pocket, ‘ fake,’ 
to steal. 

Coach, A; Ooadi, To: (a) a private 
tutor ; (6) to prepare for an examin- 
ation; to tram for a boat-race, dc. 
Orig. a pun on a means of progressing 
quickly. 



Ooadi] 90 [Oock-a-lioop 


Ooach, A slow : a dilatory person. 

Ooaoli, Fifth wheel of the : see Fifth. 

CSoach’-and-fonr through . . To drive a : 
see I>rive a coach. 

Coal to Wow at, A cold : an impossible 
task. 

Coals of fire on the head of . . To heap : 
to put to shame by repa3dng evil with 
good. [Proveybs, xxv, 21-22] 

Cc^, To blow hot : to rage fiercely. 

Coals, To blow the : see Blow. 

Coals, To carry (bear) : to perfom an 
unpleasant taisk ; to submit to 
humiliation. From the duties of the 
lowest menials in the household. [B^ 
Jonson, Every Man Out of His 
Humour, V. iii (1600) ; Chapman, 
May Day (1611)] 

Coals, To haul (call) over the : to repri- 
mand ; to blame. In allusion to the 
treatment of heretics. 

Coals to Newcastle, To carry (send) : to 
perform a work of supererogation. 
Newcastle-on-T3me is one of the 
principal English coal-mining centres. 
[Fuller, Worthies : Northumberland 
(1661)]. The phrase may have origi- 
nated in * as common as coales at 
Newcastle. [Heywood, If You Know 
Not Me (1606)] 

Coals, To stir : to stir up strife and 
trouble. [Geo. Cavendish, Life and 
Death of Wolsey (1557)] 

Coal-oairierly down, A : a low, servile 
fellow. 

Coast to be dear, The : the road to be 
open and unimpeded. Orig. a military 
phrase, signifying that the coast of a 
country was dear of defending forces ; 
also a smugglers’ phrase, denoting the 
absence of coastguards. [Thos. Lodge, 
Rosalind (1590)] 

Coat acoording to one’s doth, To eat 
one’s : to adapt onesdf to one’s 
resources, A relic of the Sumptuary 
Laws. [Heywood, Provides, Pt. I, 
ch. viii (1546)] 

Coat, To baste (pay) a person’s : to beat 
him. [Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, 
Pt. I (1678)] 

Coat, To be in a person’s : to be in his 
place, esp. in time of trouble. 

Coat off a person’s back. To take the : 
to press a debtor or other person in 
one's power unduly. 

Coat, To turn one’s : to change one’s 
principles and party. One who does 
this is called ' a tum-coat.* 

Coat, To wear the king’s: to be a 
soldier. 


Cobalt: one of the metallic chemical 
elements. From Kobold, an imp of 
the Hartz Mountains. So-called by 
Paracelsus (i493~i34i)» account of 
its elusive and impish quality. 

Cobbler : an Amer. drink. First con- 
cocted by a shoemaker. 

Cobbler Poet, The: Hans Sachs, of 
Nuremberg (i 494-1574)* 

Cobbler shoidd stick to his last, A : see 
Stick to one’s last. 

Cobbler’s pundi : a mixture of beer, 
spirit, sugar, and spice. See Cobbler. 

Cobdenite Sdiool, The: After Richard 
Cobden. See Manchester School. 

Coburg : an imitation merino fabric ; 
introduced shortly after the marriage 
of Queen Victoria with Prince Albert 
of Saxe-Coburg. There was no con- 
nection between the fabric and the 
Duchy of Coburg. 

Cobweb-leaming : learning of little sub- 
stance. [Howell, Familiar Letters 
(1650)] 

Cock, A. : (i) One who arouses; a 
watchman; a minister of religion ; in 
allusion to the crowing of the domestic 
cock that arouses the sleeper; (2) 
one who shows spirit; in allusion to 
a game-cock, 

Coek and Ball story, A : a fictitious, far- 
fetched narrative, usually without any 
foundation in fact. Probably from 
some old absurd story or a fable of a 
cock and a buU. Cf. Coq k I’dne. 
[John Day, Law Trickes, IV (1608)] 

Coc^ To ory : to claim the victory ; to 
claim superiority. 

Codk and Hen dnb, A : a dub for men 
and women. 

Cook Lane Ghost, The: an imposture 
perpetrated in Cock Lane, Smithfield, 
London, in 1762, by a man named 
Parsons and his daughter. 

Cock of the game, The : the leader in a 
game, esp. at school. Orig. a fighting- 
cock. [Munday and Chettle, Death of 
Robert, Earl of Huntingdon, II, ii 
{1601)] 

Cock of the school. The : the leader of 
the school in sports, etc. 

Cock of the walk, The : the leader of a 
cxrde or coterie ; the ' top dog.’ From 
the farmyard, where one cock assumes 
the headship of the hen-run. 

Cook to erow. To teadh a : see Teach. 

Cook, To live like a ffghting-: see 
Fighting Cock. 

Codk-a-hoop : defiant, boastful. Like a 
game-cock with his houpe or crest 



91 


Cock-a-le^e] 

erect, or in allusion to the attitude of 
the triumphant cock perched on the 
hoop within which the fight is supposed 
to have taken place. [He3rwood, 
Proverhes (1546) ; Shakespeare, Romeo 
and Juliet, I, v (1595)] 

Cook-a-leeikie : soup made of a cock 
boiled with leeks. 

Cock-boat, A : a very small boat ; the 
small boat which is towed behind a ship. 

Cock-brained : silly ; foolish ; with no 
more brain than a cock. [Lomatius 
on Painting (1598)] 

Cock-fighting, To beat : to be most im- 
probable. In allusion to far-fetched 
stories told of cock-fighting. 

Cock-pit of Europe, The : Belgium. On 
accoimt of the number of times it has 
been ravaged by the wars of other 
nations. 

Cock-shy, A : an object at which sticks, 
etc., are thrown for prizes {e.g., cocoa- 
nuts on sticks) at country fairs, etc. 
From the old sport of throwing sticks 
at cocks. 

Cock-sparrow humour : amorous humour. 
[G. Wilkins, Miseries of Enforced 
Marriage, I, 11 . 126-30 {1607)] 

Cock-sure : absolutely certain ; see 
Coclry. Or perhaps derived from cock- 
fighting. [Nat. Woodes, Conflict of 
Conscience, III, iii (1581)] 

Cook-tail, A : (i) one who pretends to be 
a gentleman but is not one ; from cock- 
tailed horses (horses with their tails 
shortened), wMch as a rule are not 
thoroughbred ; (2) a drink, consisting 
of spirit, bitters, sugar, etc. ; from a 
Mexican favourite dbrink, Octel, after 
Xochitl, who first concocted it. 

Cook’s cazmy hinnies. As rich as : these 

. were the daughters and heiresses of 
Alderman Ralph Cock, of Newcastle. 
Cockade Slate, The : Maryland. On 
account of the cockades worn by the 
local regiment in the War of Inde- 
pendence. 

Cockaigne ; Cockayne : London. 

Cockaigne is the fabulous land of 
luxury and idleness. Not connected 
with ‘ cockney.' 

Cock-crow, At: at dawn. In allusion 
to the practice of cocks crowing as 
soon as light appears. 

Cocked hat. To kno(& into a : to thrash 
thoroughly. A 'cocked hat' (slang) 
is anything that has been damaged 
out of recognition. Another derivation 
is from the game of bowls. One 
of the figures in this game is designated 


[Cooky 

' a cocked hat.* To secure this figure 
is sufficiently exceptional to form the 
basis for a proverb. 

Cocker, According to : accurate. After 
Edward Cocker, author of The Com- 
pleat Arithmetician (c. 1669). The 
phrase became common from the 
reference to Cocker and his arithmetic 
in Murphy's farce. The Apprentice 
(1756). 

Codkle-brained : eccentric ; whimsical. 
Cockles of the heart. To warm the : to 
give very great pleasure and satis- 
faction. Said to be an allusion to the 
resemblance in shape between a cockle- 
shell and the heart. An amusing 
derivation has been suggested, viz,, 
the resemblance between kardia, the 
Grk. word for ' heart,* and cardium, 
the technical Lat. name for ' cockle.' 
Another suggested origin is from the 
Lat. word cochlea, ventricle, used by 
Rich. Lower, an Eng. anatomist, in 
his Tractatus de Corde (1669). For the 
term 'Cockles of Ms heart* see 
Eachard, Observations (1671). 

Cockney, A : (i) a Londoner, one bom 
within sound of Bow Bells. Orig. a 
cock's egg, i.e,, a small badly-shaped 
egg ; later, a countryman's nickname 
for a town-dandy ; in 17th cent, 
applied esp. to Londoners. Sir James 
Murray derives the modem use of 
cockney from the earlier sense of a 
pampered child, a milksop. At first 
applied to townsmen by countrymen, 
it later became attached to Londoners 
only. Yet another derivation connects 
the word with ‘ cock * and relates it to 
the French phrase, Le pais de cocagne, 
the land of good cheer ; (2) a pet ; 
[Greene, Liberality and Prodigality, 
IV, i (1602)] (3) a member of the 

Cockney School fe.v.). 

Cockney Accent : intonation or twang 
peculiar to the lower classes of East 
London. 

Cockney School, The : a set of i9th-cent. 
London writers consisting of Leigh 
Hunt, Shelley, Hazlitt, Keats, etc. 
So-called by Lockhart. 

Cockneys, The King of the : a Master of 
the Revels, chosen by the students of 
Lincoln's Tt^ti on Childermas Day 
(Dec. 28th). 

Cookoloacffi, A : a mean fellow ; a 
coxcomb. 

Cooky : conceited ; formerly lecherous. 
Also (as a noun) a colloquial term of 
endearment. 



Cocadgms] 92 

CocgdgraeSa The ! the futiire good time 
when all mysteries will be revealed. 
[Rabelais, Gargantua, I, 49] 

Code Frdd^ric, OChe • a codification of the 
law made by Frederick the Great 
(1712-86). 

Code Napoleon, The: the code of law 
introduced by Napoleon in 1803. 

Codlin’s your fdend, not Short : an 
attempt to secure confidence at the 
expense of a rival. After Codlin and 
Short in Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, 
ch. six (1840). 

Cod’s head, A : a fool. The head of a 
codfish looks particularly silly. 

Oodehs’ Wife, A : a model wife in the 
opinion of a bachelor. After a 
character in Hannah More, CoeUbs in 
Search of a Wife (1809). 

Coenr de Zion [Fr,, heart of a lion) : 

(i) Richard I of England; (2) also 
Louis VIII of France. On account of 
their exceptional bravery. 

Co&e House Statesman (Politician), A : 
an amateur statesman. In allusion to 
the coffee-houses in which they used 
to gather for political discussion. 

Coggeshall job, A : a stupidity. From 
the proverbial foolishness of the inhabi- 
tants of Coggeshall in Essex. 

Cognac : brandy distilled from grapes 
grown at Cognac, France. 

Cognoscente, A (Ital,) : one well versed 
in a subject, esp. one of the five arts. 

Coin money. To : to make money 
rapidly, as if one were actually coining 
it. 

Coin, To pay a person in his om : to 
treat a person in accordance with the 
treatment he himself meted out. 
[Plautus, Pseudolus, 1. 743 ; Tomkis, 
Albumazar, IV, ix {1615)] 

Colberteen ; Cdbertine : a kind of lace. 
Aifter Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-83), 
Fr. statesman and superintendent of 
the royal lace-factories. 

Colchesw, Weaver’s beef of : see 
Weaver's. 

Cold as a Key, As: cold. [Gawin 
Douglas, Palace of Honour, 674 (1501)] 

Cold as a paddock. As : a paddock is a 
toad or frog, a cold-blooded rana. 

Cold as a stone. As : (1290). 

Cold blood. In : deliberately ; without 
excitement. [Wm. Brown, Elegie to 
the Memory of Sir Thomas Overhury 

(1613)] 

Cold shoulder to . . To show (give) the ; 

To cold-shoulder: to be distant with . . ; 
to show a disinclination to friendship 


[Colosseum 

with . . [Scott, The Antiquary, ch. 
XXX {1816)] 

Cold feet. To have: to be lacking, 
generally temporarily, in courage. 

Cold steel : a bayonet ; a sword. 

Cold, To leave out in the : to neglect ; 
to ignore. 

Cold water upon . . To throw : to dis- 
courage. 

Cold-blooded : unemotional ,* heartless ; 
deliberate. 

Cole (cold) prophet. To play : to pretend 
to tell fortunes. From ' cole,' a 
swindler. [Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Colin Tampon : a Swiss. 

Coliseum : see Colosseum. 

Collar, To : to seize. Lit., to lay hold 
of by the coUar. 

Collar of SS (Esses) : oiig. the badge of 
the Lancastrians ; now worn by the 
Lord Chief Justice and other judges 
and ofi&cials. 

Collectanea (LaL) : a collection of an 
author's writings. First applied to 
those of Caius Julius Solinus (fi. 230), 
Roman grammarian, historian, and 
geographer. 

Collective bargainiug : negotiations on 
the part of workingmen in a body, 
e»g,, as a trade union, for improvements 
in pay or conditions of labour. 

Colleen, A (Irish) : a young girl. 

College, New : Newgate prison. 

Collop Monday : the day before Shrove 
Tuesday on which coUops (eggs fried 
on bacon) are eaten. 

Cologne, The Three Kings of : Caspar, 
Melchior, and Balthazar, the three 
Wise Men of the East, who visited the 
Infant J esus, and according to tradition 
were buried at Cologne. 

Colonial System, The Old : the system 
adopted by Britain towards her 
colonies in the i8th cent, and earlier, 
whereby she obtained considerable 
economic advgmtages at their expense. 
This system led to the secession of the 
North American colonies. 

Colophon : the conclusion of a book, 
showing the date and place of publi- 
cation, printer's name, etc. After 
Colophon, in Asia Minor, a troop^ of 
whose cavalry was famous for giving 
the finishing stroke. 

Cologuintida, As bitter as : coloquintida, 
or colocynth, the bitter-apple. 
[Shakespeare, Othello, I, iii (1604)] 

Colossal : immense, like a Colossus (^.v.). 

Colosseum; Coliseum: a place of 
amusement of the ' variety ' descrip- 



Colossus] 93 

tion ; a music-hall. The Colosseum at 
Rom*e was the theatre for the public 
games. It derived its name from the 
colossal statue of Nero in its neighbour- 
hood. 

Colossus, A : an over-shadowing per- 
sonality. After the Colossus, ^ a 
gigantic statue of Apollo, which 
bestr^e the harbour at Rhodes, one 
of the Wonders of the World. 

Colossus of ludependenoe, The : John 
Adams (1735-1826), second President 
of the XJ.S. On account of his efforts 
for the independence of the colonies. 

Colour, A man of: a negro, or other 
dark-skinned person. 

Colour of . . Under : under pretence of . . 
[Sir Thos. Wyatt, The Louer Lamenteth 
His Estate (i557j] 

Colour to . . To give : to provide some 
sort of justification for .. [Poston 
Letters, No. 268 (145^)] 

Colour, To turn : (of a person) to turn 
pale. 

Colours, To desert one’s : to withdraw 
one’s support. A military metaphor. 

Colours, False : a cover for dishonesty. 

A military metaphor referring to the 
flag or colours carried by a regiment. 

Colours, Flying : see Flying. 

Colours, To fear no : to fear no enemy. 

A military metaphor. [Shakespeare, 
Twelfth Night, I, v (1601)] 

Colours, To join the : to join the anny, 
i.e., to range oneself under a mihtary 
flag. 

Colours, To paint in bright : to emphasize 
the pleasant aspects of . . 

Colours to the mast. To nail one’s : to 
remain steadfast in one’s determin- 
ation. A naval metaphor, referring 
to the flag or colours carried by a 
man-of-war. 

Colours, To see a thh^ in its true : to 
see clearly, despite attempts at 
deception. 

Colours, To stick to one’s : to adhere to 
one’s principles . A military metaphor . 

Colonrs, To s&e one’s : to surrender, 
vnthdiuw from a contest. A military 
metaphor. 

Colours, True : honesty. ^ ^ , 

Colours, To wear a person’s : to attach 
oneself to a person. [Shakespeare, 
Love*s Labour Lost (1588)]. ^ 

Coloured Frontispiece by * Phiz,’ A : a 
blush. A pun on 'phiz,* physi- 
ognomy,* and 'Phiz,* the sobnquet 
of Hablot K. Browne (1815-82), 
humorous artist. 


[Comitadji 

Colporteur, A : one who travels from 
■^age to village hawking books, esp. 
Bibles and small devotional books, etc. 
From col, neck, and porter, to carry. 

Colt Revolver, A : a fire-arm invented 
by Samuel Colt (1814-62). 

Columbia : America. After Columbus, 
the discoverer. 

Columbiad : a kind of heavy cannon, 
formerly used in the U.S . Army. After 
Columbia (q.v,). 

Columbus’ egg, As simple as : in allusion 
to the anecdote related of Christopher 
Columbus and the egg. The task set 
was to cause an egg to balance on one 
of its ends. Several scientists applied 
their knowledge to solving the diffi- 
culty but without success. Columbus, 
as soon as he learnt of the difficulty, 
indented one end slightly by cracking 
the shell, and immediately stood the 
egg upright. 

Comb, A erab-tree : a cudgel, intended 
for use on the head. ' Crab * from crab- 
apple. 

Comb of Germany, The : the four fingers 
and the thumb. [Rabelais, Gargantua, 

I, 21] 

Comb the hair the wrong way, To : to 
annoy a person by opposing his preju- 
dices, opinions, etc. 

Come down, A : a humiliation ; a 
reverse. 

Come the old soldier over .. To: to 
deceive and cajole, esp. with a view to 
obtaining assistance. The phrase 
arose after the conclusion of the 
Napoleonic Wars from the public 
begging practised by disbanded soldiers 
and pretended soldiers. 

Come to the end of one’s tether. To : see 
Tether. 

Comedy of eharacter, A : ' not an exact 
drama, in which the actors deliver 
what is set down to them by the 
author; but one in which, the plot 
having been previously fixed upon and 
a few striking scenes adjusted, the 
actors are expected to supply the 
dialogue extempore.* [Scott, SU 
Ronan*s Well, ch. 20 (1824)]. 

Comedy of Errors, A : a series of amusing 
mistake.s. After the play of that title 
by Shakespeare {1589). 

Comely as a cow in a c^e. As : [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Comfort (s). Creature : see Creature-com- 
fort. 

Comitadji, A (Serbian) : a member of a 
band of irregular soldiers or brigands 



Commandeer] 94 

in Macedonia, who, previous to the 
Balkan Wars, carried on a ceaseless 
warfare of extermination against the 
races other than his own living in that 
region. 

Commandeer, To : to seize for military 
or other governmental use. From the 
South- A&can Dutch. Introduced at 
the time of the South African War of 
1899. 

Commander of the Faithful : the Caliph. 
The title was first assumed by Omar 
(581-644). 

Commander of the Swiss Fleet, A : an 
ironical title for a paid holder of a 
sinecure. Switzerland, of course, 
possesses no fleet. 

Commandment, The Eleventh: ‘Thou 
Shalt not be found out.' 

Commando, A : a body of South African 
burghers summoned to take up arms 
for the defence of their lands. This 
system of compulsory service was 
introduced by the English in 1806. 

Comme il faut {Fr., as it should be) : in 
accordance with custom, convention 
or etiquette. 

Commendation Ninepence, A : a bent 
ninepenny piece used as a love-token. 
Commendation, the act of commending. 

Commercial drama, A : a play written 
for no other purpose than to make 
money. 

Commodity of hrownpaper, A : (i) goods 
purchased on credit by prodigals and 
swindlers to be turned immediately 
into ready money at a loss ; [Shakes- 
peare, Measure for Measure, IV, iii 
(1603)] (2) worthless goods sold 
either as a make-weight or a decep- 
tion. 

Common cause with . . To make : to 
join one's fortunes with .. [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Seditions and Troubles 
(1625)] 

Commoner, The Great : see Great. 

Common or garden : quite ordinary and 
plentiful, not rare, as the context would 
have led one to expect. Like ordinary 
garden flowers. The phrase passed 
about 1875 from the technical use in 
the field clubs and naturalists' other 
popular societies into general use. 

Common People, The : the people apart 
from those who enjoy titles or dignities. 

Commons, Good : good feeding. 

* Commons ' in the sense of provisions, 
orig. supplied to a number of people 
in common, as in a monastery or a 
college. 


[Conclusions 

Commons, Short: insufficient rations. 
see Commons, Good. 

Commonplace book, A : a book into 
which striking jpassages in literature, 
etc., are copied. * Commonplace 
was a term used' in old rhetoric to 
represent testimonies or pithy sen- 
tences of good authors which might be 
used for strengthening or adorning a 
discourse.' [Henry Morley, in a note 
to Sidney, Defence of Poesie'] 

Commonw^th of Letters : see Republic 
of Letters. 

Commune, The: a socialist party in 
France during the period in 1871 in 
which the revolutionary socialists 
had control of Paris. From commune, 
a French municipal district, the inde- 
pendent unit for self-government, 
according to the theory of the Revo- 
lutionary Socialists. 

Company, “To keep : to associate with, 
esp. in the case of lower-clas's lovers. 
\Wily Beguiled, U. 1053-4 (1606)] 

Compass, To live : to return to one's 
starting-point; to describe a circle. 
[Lyly, Euphnes and His England 
(1580)] 

Competition Wallah, A: a member of 
the Indian Civil Service appointed as 
a result of open competition. Urdu, 
wala is equivalent to the suffix - er in 
competitioner. 

Complete Seaman, The: Admiral Sir 
Richard Hawkins (1562-1622). So- 
called by himself. 

Compound householder. A: a house- 
holder whose rates are covered by his 
rent and are paid by his landlord. 
Act 14 and 15 Viet. (1851). 

Comtism: Positivism. After Auguste 
Comte (1798-1857), the French founder 
of this school of philosophy. 

Comus, A priest of : a cook. Comus 
was the god of revelry and feasting. 

Con amore (Ito/., with love) : enthusi- 
astically. [Warburton's edn. of Poi>e, 

^ IV (1757)] 

Concert of Europe, The : agreement of 
the Great Powers of Europe in matters 
of common interest. 

Conclave, A : an assembly of Cardinals 
for the election of a Pope. Properly, 
a set of rooms opened by a common 
key {con clavis), lie range of rooms to 
which the Cardinals repair when a 
Pope is to be elected. 

Contusions witibi . . To try : to contest 
with . . Its former meaning was to 
experiment. 



Concordat] 95 [Consfeitational 


Concordat : the agreement of 1801 
between Napoleon and the Pope for 
the restoration of the Roman Catholic 
Church in France. 

Condog, To : to concur. Suggested 
derivation : dog = cur. [Lyly, 
Galathea, III, 3 ( 159 ^)] 

Condomioinm, A (Lat., joint dominion) : 
a protectorate exercised jointly by 
two or more powers. [Burnet, 
History of His Own Times, III 

Oondo^^ A : an Italian brigand. 
Orig. a soldier-of-fortune who fought 
in Italy in the wars of the 15th and 
1 6th cents. 

Confiah, A : ah intimate conversation. 
Contraction of confabulation. Lat., 
confabulation [Dialogue : Marphono 
and Pasquin, 8 {1701)] 

Confederate States, The : South Carolina, 
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, 
Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, 
Tennessee, North Carolina. The eleven 
southern States that seceded from the 
N. American Union in i860. The 
secession led to the Amer. Civil War. 
The States were reincorporated in the 
Union on the conclusion of the war 
in 1865. 

Confidence man, A : one who practices 
the Confidence Trick fe.u.) ; a respect- 
ably-dressed swindler. 

Confidence Trick, The: a swindling 
trick which requires the confidence of 
the victim as a preliminary. Usually 
the deposit, as a token of good-faith, 
of money with which the holder runs 
away. , ^ 

Congd d*61ire {Py-, permission to elect) : 
the royal licence to elect a bishop. 

Congleton Bears : the inhabitants of 
Congleton, Cheshire. From the 
traention that when the town-bear 
died, the money subscribed for a new 
churdi Bible was appropriated to 
purchase another bear. 

Congress : Parliament of the U.S., con- 
sisting of the Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Conqueror, To have come in (over) with 
the : phrase applied to those who 
r.Ta.im long EngU^ lineage. 

Conqueror’s nose, A : a long straight 
nose with an Elevated bridge ; such 
as those of Charlemagne, the Duke of 
Wellington, Bismarck. 

Conquistadores, The [Span., the con- 
querors) : the Spanish conquerors of 
Mexico and Peru in the i6'& cent. 


Conscience clause, A : a clause in an 
Act of Parliament that makes a con- 
cession to relimous opinions. 

Conscience, Court of; see Court. 

Conscience money : money sent annoy- 
mously in payment of taxes of which 
the revenue had previously been 
defrauded by the sender. 

Conscript Fathers, The : the Senators of 
ancient Rome : Patres conscripti. 
Conservative Party, The: an English 
political party, formerly known as 
Tory. The name, which denotes the 
policy of conserving the institutions 
of the Country, came into use about 
1832 on the initiative, it is said, of 
J. W. Croker (1780-1857). The term 
had, however, been used by George 
Canning in a speech at Liverpool in 
March, 1820. 

Considering- (Thinking-) cap. To put on 
one’s : to enter into deep consideration, 
[Rob. Amim, A Nest of Ninnies (1608)] 

Consistory, A : (i) a business-meeting of 
Cardinals under the chairmanship of 
the Pope ; (2) an ecclesiastical Court. 

Consolation prize, A : a prize awarded 
as the result of a contest in which 
only those who have failed in the 
regular contests are qualified to take 
psui:. 

Consols; an English State debt, the 
interest on and principal of which are 
secured on the Consolidated Fund. 

Con^ouous by its absence: phrase 
popularized in England by Lord John 
Russell in his Address to the Electors 
of the City of London (April 6, 1859). 
The phrase was derived by him from 
Tacitus, Annedes, Bk. Ill, ch. 76. The 
equivalent phrase had already become 
familiar in French, by its use by the 
J ansenists in allusion to the omission of 
all reference to Pascal and Amauld 
from Perrault’s History of Illustrious 
Men (1696-1700). 

Conspiracy of silenoe, A : a tacit agree- 
ment between several people to ignore 
a subject. Introduced in 1885 in 
connection with the general avoidance 
by the press of the disclosures of the 
Pall Mall Gaeette, known as 'The 
Maiden Tribute.* 

Ckmstable, To outrun the : to nm into 
debt ; to succeed the bounds of 
moderation. |T, Powell, Tom All 
Trades (1631)] 

Constitational, A : a walk taken for the 
benefit of one's health, i.e., physical 
constitution. 



Consul] 96 

Consul Bibulus, A : one wlio holds 
of&ce without power or influence. 
After Bibulus, who was joint-consul 
with Julius Caesar (59 B.C.). 

Contango, A : a Stock Exchange term : 
the rate of payment for permission to 
postpone the acceptance of stocks or 
shares purchased for one. An arti- 
ficial word, possibly a corruption of 
* continuation.* 

Contention, Bone of : see Bone. 

Conthopoiian Spring, As cold as the: 
the Conthoporian Spring, near Corinth, 
was said to freeze tiie gastric juices of 
those who drank of it. 

Contra bonos mores (Lai,» contrary to 
good conduct). [R. North, Examen 

(c. 1733)] 

Contra bonom publicum {LcU., agamst 
the public welfare). [Fielding, Voyage 
to Lisbon (1755)] 

Contre vent et mar 4 e (Fr„ against wind 
and tide) : impetuously. [W. Roberts, 
Memoirs of Hannah More, I (1787)] 

Convention Parliament, A : a parliament 
assembled without the summons of the 
sovereign. 

Conway’s Cabal : see Cabal (American). 

Coo, To bill and : see Bill. 

Cook accounts. To : to concoct or manipu- 
late accounts, usually fraudulently. 
[17th cent.] 

Cook and bottiewasher. Head : see Head 
Cook. 

Cook the goose of .. To: to punish 
severely ; to over-reach. When Eric, 
Kmg of Norway, arrived at a certain 
town, the inhabitants in derision hung 
a goose outside of the wall, inviting 
the tog to shoot at it. Eric took the 
town within a few hours and burnt it, 
‘to cook your goose for you.' To 
'cook one's own goose' is to over- 
reach oneself. 

Cool (Cold) as a encumber. As : perfectly 
calm. Cool is here used in &e sense 
of calm. [Beaumont and Fletcher, 
Cupid*s Revenge, I, i (1615)] 

Coolie, A : an Indian or East Asiatic 
indentured labourer, employed away 
from his native country. Hindu, 
hidi, labourer. 

Cooling card, A : that which damps one’s 
hopes. Phrase borrowed from a card 
game. [Lyly, Euphues : Anatomy of 
Wit (1579)] 

Coon, A : a fellow. Formerly a member 
of the American Whig Party, which 
used to have a racoon for an 
emblem. 


[Cordeliers 

Coon, A gone : one whose case is hope- 
less. See Coon. 

Coon’s age, A : a long period of time. 
In allusion to the popular belief that 
the racoon lives to a great age. 

Coot, As bald as a : in allusion to the bald 
coot or fulica. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Coot, As stupid as a : the bird is 
proverbial for stupidity. 

Cophetua, A King: one who marries 
very much below his real station in 
life. After the legendary African 
potentate, famous for his wealth, who 
married a beggar-maid, according to 
a ballad in Percy, Reliques (1765). 

Copper, A : (I) a poUceman, from 

either (a) to ' cop,' to catch, or (6) 
the copper badge appointed for New 
York policemen by Fernando Wood ; 
(2) any bronze coin, usually a penny. 

Copper : a metal. A corruption of 
C3rprus, an idand in which in ancient 
times it was found in abundance. . 

Copper Captain, A : one who masquerades 
as a captain. [Beaumont and Pletcher, 
Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (1624)] 

Copper-head, A : a pacifist of the North 
during the American Civil War. After 
the copperhead, an exceedingly 
venomous snake. 

Copper-nosed Harry ; Coppemose : 
Henry VIII. In allusion to the silver 
coinage of his reign, which was an alloy 
of silver and copper, the copper show- 
ing first through the nose of his profile. 

Copybook morality : formal, ' cheap/ 
morality. In allusion to the maxims 
given to school-children to copy as 
practice in caligraphy. 

Coq k I’ftne cock on the ass) : an 
impossible story ; a cock and bull 
stonr {q.v,). 

Coquefigrues, At the coming of the : 
never. [Rabelais, Pantagruel] 

Coral master, A : a juggler. From 
scarlet costumes of the ancient Spanish 
jugglers. 

Corbie messenger, A : one who returns 
too late, or not at all. In allusion to 
the raven in Genesis, viii, 7. (Scot., 
corbie, a raven.) 

Corddia’s gift : a * voice ever soft, 
gentle and low ; an excellent thing in 
woman.' [Shakespeare, King Lear, 
V, iii (1605-6). 

Corddiers, The : a French revolutionary 
club (1790-94). It orig. met in the 
church of the Cordelier monks in Paris. 
The Cordelier or Franciscan Observan- 



Cordon] 97 

tist monks derived the name from the 
knotted rope girdle they wore. 
Ft., cordeUr, to twist. 

Cordon Bleu, A : (i) the sash oi the 
highest order of monarchical France, 
the St. Esprit ; (2^ humorously 

applied to a chief cook or chef. 

Cordon Noir, Un : a knight of the French 
Order of St. Michael, distinguished by 
a black ribbon. 

Cordon Rouge, Un : a chevalier of the 
French monarchical Order of St. Louis. 

In allusion to the red ribbon by which 
the decoration was suspended. 

Cordon, Un Grand {Fr., a broad ribbon) : 
a member of the Legion d'Honneur. 
the decoration of which is suspended 
by a broad ribbon. 

Cordovan : leather. Orig. made at 
Cordova, in Spain. 

Corduroy : a ribbed clothing-material. 
Fr., cords du roi, king's cord. From 
its use for the clothing of the Kings of 
France. 

Corduroy, Mere : the working classes. 
After the material out of which their 
clothing used to be made. 

Corduroy road, A : a road in marshy 
parts of N. America made with logs 
lying across it. From its resemblance 
to corduroy. 

Cordwainer, A : a bootmaker. From 
Cordovan leather, used for making 
boots. 

Coriander seed : money. Because the 
shape of the seed roughly resembles 
coins. 

Corinth, A : a brothel. After the City 
of Corinth, which in classical days was 
proverbial for its luxury and im- 
moralit\^ 

Corinthian, A : (i) rou6 ; a rake ; 

(2) (in America) a wealthy amateur who 
rides his own horses and navigates his 
own yacht. See Corinth, 

Corinthian brass: (i) shamelessness; 
see Corinthian ; {2) a mixture of gold, 
silver and brass ; from the combination 
of these metals when Corinth was 
burnt by Mummius (146 B.C.). 

Corinthian, To act the : to live the life 
of a prostitute. 

Oorinihianism : prostitution. See 

Corinthian. 

Cormorant, To be a : to be greedy. A 
reference to the voracity of the 
cormorant. \Joe Miller* s Jests, No. 

179 (1739)] 

Com in ihe blade. To eat one’s : to 
practise extravagance, especially by 


[Corporal 

spending one's income in advance. 
[Rabelais, Panlagntel, III, 2] 

Com by one’s own bushel. To measure 
other people’s : to judge other people 
by one’s own standard. [Simon Wag- 
staff (Jon. Swift), Polite Conversation, 
Dial. I (1738)] 

Com Crackers : poor whites in the 
Southern States of N. America. In 
allusion to their consumption of com 
as a means of subsistence. 

Com in Egypt : plentifulness. In 
allusion to Genesis, xlii, 2. 

Com Law Poet (Rhymer), The : Ebenezer 
Elliott (1781-1849), author of Corn 
Law Rhymes 

Com Laws : legislation imposing an 
import duty on com. 

Corns, To bread on a person’s : to offend 
against his susceptibilities. 

Com-cracker State, The : Kentucky. On 
account of its com-cracker birds. 

Cornelius and his tub : in allusion to one 
Cornelius and his cure for venereal 
disease. 

Comer, A : a commercial operation 
whereby the price of a commodity is 
artificially raised by its concentration 
in the hands of one individual or 
corporation. To ‘ comer,* in the 
sense of to drive into a comer. 

Comer Boy, A : (in Ireland) an idler who 
spends his time at street-comers. 

Comer, To drive into a : to force into a 
position from which there is no escape. 

Comer, To turn the : to pass successfully 
through the crisis of an illness, a 
trouble, a danger, etc. 

Cornet of Horse, The Terrible : William 
Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1708-78). So- 
called by Sir Robert Walpole, who 
deprived him of his cometcy in the 
Blues on account of his tireless criti- 
cism in Parliament. 

Cornish hug. The : an allusion to the 
fame of Comishmen as wrestlers. 

Corni^ Wonder, The : John Opie (1761- 
1807), the painter. 

Comstafks : Australians of European 
descent. In allusion to their tall, lithe 
figures, like cornstalks. Orig. limited 
to the inhabitants of New South 
Wales. 

Comuto, Dan : a cuckold ; Lat., 
cornutus, homed. [Chapman, All 
Fools, II, i (1605)] 

Corporal John : John Churchill, the 
great Duke of Marlborough (1650— 
1722). A name given to him by his 
men. 



Corporal] 9^ [Counsel 


Corporal oath, A : an oath stren^hened 
by touching some sacred object, in 
particular the corporale or cloth which 
covered the consecrated elements, 
[Cervantes, Dow Quixote, Pt. I, Bk. W, 
ch, x] 

Corporal, The Little : see Caporal, Le 
Petit. 

Corporal Violet ; see Caporal Violet. 

Corpse Candle, A : a luminous appearance 
in damp places, e.g,, cemeteries. 

Corpus Christi Day (Lat., body of 
Christ) : the Thursday after Trini-ty 
Sunday, a Roman Catholic festival in 
honour of the body of Christ in the 
Eucharist. 

Corpus delicti (Lat., body of the ofience) : 
the aggregate of the various ingredients 
which make a given fact a breach of a 
given law. 

Corpus vile {Lat., a worthless body) : on 
which experiments may be made. 

Correggesaue : in the style of Antonio 
da Correggio (1494-1534), Italian 
painter. 

Correggio of Sculptors, The : Jean 
Goujon (1510-72). Correggio (i494~ 
1534) was one of the most distinguished 
of the Italian painters of the Cinque- 
cento. 

Corrohoree, A : a dance of Australian 
natives. After the original native 
name for Port Jackson, N.S.W. 

Corruptio optimi pessima (Lat., the 
spoiling of the best is the worst) : the 
better a thing, the worse its abuse. 
[Purchas, Microcosmus, LXX (1619)] 
The phrase is traced back to Aristotle, 
Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. VIII, ch. x. 

Corsican Ogre, The : Napoleon I. After 
Corsica, his birthplace. 

Cortes, The : the Spanish or Portuguese 
Parliament. 

Corvde : forced and unpaid labour — ^in 
France until 1776, in Egypt until 
1888. 

Coryhantic Religion, The : the Salvation 
Army. So-called by Thomas Huxley 
(1825-1895), from a suggested resem- 
blance between its extravagances and 
the ravings of the Corybantes or 
devotees of Bacchus. 

Corycian Nymphs, The : the Muses. 
After the cave of Corycia, on Mount 
Parnassus. 

Corydon, A : a shepherd. After a 
character in the Idylls of Theocritos, 
the Eclogues of Virgil, etc. 

Coryphaeus, A : the most active member 
of a committee, company, etc. After 


the title of the leader of the Greek 
chorus. 

Coryphaeus of German Literature, The : 

Goethe (1749-1832). 

Coryphaeus of Grammarians, The : 
Aristarchos of Samothrace (220-143 
B.C.). 

Costermonger, A : a street-hawker of 
fruit, vegetables, etc. From coster, 
a kind of apple, and monger, a 
dealer. 

Cot-quean, A : (i) a low, vulgar woman ; 
lit., the housewife of a labourer’s hut ; 
(2) a man who interferes in women’s 
afiairs. [Shakespeare, Romeo and 
Juliet, IV, iv (1591-3)] 

Gotswold barley. To be as long a-coming 
as : Cotswold, in Gloucestershire, is 
backward in its vegetation on account 
of its cold, bleak situation, but it 
produces an excellent late supply of 
barley. 

Cotswold Uon, A : a sheep. In allusion 
to the flocks of sheep which graze on 
the Cotswold Hills. [Ther sites, 11 . 1 22-5 

(1537)] 

Cotton Lord, A : a prominent or wealthy 
cotton-manufacturer. 

Cotton Plantation State, The : Alabama. 
Cotton is its staple industry. 

Cotton (up) to * . To : to become closely 
attached to . . ,* to cling to (like cotton). 
[Life and Death of Capt, Thomas 
Shikeley, 1. 290 (1605)] 

Cottonocracy, The : wealthy cotton- 
spinners, as a class. 

Cottonopolis : Manchester, the centre of 
the cotton-spinning industry. 

Couch-quail, To play : to cower ; to 
couch as a quail. [Thersites, 11 . 19-20 

(1537)] 

Couleur-de-rose (Fr., rose-colour) : 
promising success ; favourable ; 
' rosy.' [J. Russell, Babees Book 

^ (c. 1447)] 

Coulisse, The : the ' unojfficial ' Stock 
Exchange in Paris; the part of a 
theatre * behind the scenes.' Properly, 
the groove in which the side-scenes of 
a theatre slide. 

Coulomb : the unit in measuring current 
electricity. After Charles Augustin de 
Coulomb (1736-1806), French experi- 
mental philosopher. 

Counsel of perfecnon, A : (i) one of the 
advisory declarations of Christ and 
the Apostles, the adoption of which 
assists towards the attainment of 
greater moral perfection ; (2) a 

recommendation of a course desirable 



Count] 99 

but beyond attainment. {Matthew, . 
xix, 2l] 

Count one’s citickens before they are 
hatched. To ; to assume success 
before it has been attained. [Butler, 
Hudihras, Pt, II, canto iii, 923 (1663)] 

Counter-caster, A : an arithmetician 
(contemptuously). [Shakespeare, 

Othello, I, i (?i604)] 

Counter-jumper, A : a shop-assistant. 

Counties Palatine, The : orig. Chester, 
Lancaster, Durham, Kent, Shropshire, 
Pembroke, Hexham ; now the first 
three only. The privileges they en- 
joyed were granted in return for their 
defence of the frontiers of the kingdom . 

Count-out, To : (Parliamentary^ to lead 
to an adjournment of the House of 
Commons by calling attention to the 
absence of a quorum. 

Counterfeit crank, A : a pretended 
epileptic. 

Country Cousin, A : an ingenuous person 
from the country without experience 
of the complexities, luxuries, etc., of 
town life. [Foote, The Lame Lover 
(1770)] 

Country Joan, A : an awkward country- 
girl. 

Country Party, The : the political party 
which advocated the claims of the 
country, i.e., agriculture, against those 
of the town — forerunner of the Tory 
and Conservative Parties. 

Country, To appeal (go) to the : to 
dissolve Parliament and thus necessi- 
tate a General Election. 

County Princess, A: a parvenu who 
apes the manners of the old county 
families. 

Coup d’essai, A {Fr,, trial-blow) ; a first 
attempt. {Spectator, 123 (1712)] 

Coup d’etat, A (Fr,, State-blow) : a 
sudden change of the system of govern- 
ment, esp. with the assistance of the 
Army, e.g,, Napoleon III*s proclam- 
ation of himself as Emperor in 1851. 
[Howell, Leivis XIII (1646)] 

Coup de grace, A {Fr,, stroke of grace) : 
a knock-out blow that ends a contest. 
From the fatal blow of the executioner 
that puts a victim who had been 
tortured out of his misery. [Peter 
Pindar, Bozzy and Piozzi, pt. II (1796)] 

Coup de main, A. {Fr., blow of the hand) : 
a sudden attack. Orig. a military 
phrase. {A^tnual Register (1758)] 

Coup de maitre, A {Fr., a masterstroke) : 
[Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to the Royal 
Academicians for 1785, Ode VIII] 


[Cousin 

Coup manquA A (Fr., false stroke) : a 
miss. 

Coup d’oeil, A {Fr., stroke of the eye) : 
a glance ; the scene as taken in at a 
glance. ^ 

Coup de pied de I’dne, A {Fr., a kick by 
an ass) : a cowardly blow or insult. 

Coup de thdatre, A {Fr., theatre-stroke) : 
an immediate theatrical success ; any 
sensational success. [Horace Wal- 
pole, Letters, II (1747)] 

Couples, To hunt in : of two persons, to 
be inseparable. [Thackeray, 2 'he 
Fatal Boots, ch. 6 (1839)] 

Couiland weaiher : very rough weather. 
After Courland, a province of Russia. 

Court card, A : a corruption of coat card. 
The figures on the court cards are 
coated. 

Court Holy Water : flattery and empty 
promises. Translation of a French 
proverbial expression, eau bSnite de la 
Cour. [Shakespeare, King Lear, III, 
ii (1605)] 

Court of Arches, The : the Court of 
Appeal of the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, formerly held in the church of 
St. Mary-le-Bow, or St. Mary-of-the- 
Arches. 

Court of Conscience, A : a Court of 
decision in cases of small debts ; 
fi^ratively, conscience as a moral 
tribunal. 

Court of the Gentiles, To he in the : not 
to be included in the select, but to be 
only approaching to them. The Court 
of the Gentiles was the outermost 
court of the Temple at Jerusalem, but 
the furthermost point to which non- 
Jews were admitted. 

Court, Out of : with no further say in the 
matter. Orig. referred to a plaintiff 
who has forfeited his claim to be 
heard in court. 

Court plaster : sticking-plaster for the 
protection of slight wounds. From the 
plaster with which ladies at Court 
used to decorate their faces. 

Court of Requests : a Court of decision in 
cases of small debts. 

Courtesy title, A : a title enjoyed by 
courtesy, to which one has no legal 
right. C^nerally the subordinate title 
of a peer borne by his eldest son during 
the father's lifetime. 

Cousin Betty : a semi-idiot. 

Cousin Jacky (Jan) : a Comishman. On 
account of the common practice in 
Cornwall of addressing people as 
' Cousin.' 



Cotuto] 1 

Cousin Michftel (Micliel) i ^ German. 
From Michael, the typical German 
peasant. 

Cotlte due coftte (Fr., cost what it may 
cost) : at all costs. pL-ord Boling- 
broke, Letters {1715)] 

Cove, A : a fellow ; a chap. [i6th 
cent. ; Dekker, Lanthortje and Cat:dle- 
light, ch. I (1609)] 

Covenanter, A : one who had taken the 
Scotch National Covenant (1638), the 
Solemn League and Covenant (1643) or 
the Ulster Covenant (1912). See 
Solemn League and Covenant. 

Coventry Act, The i the Act of Parlia- 
ment (22-3, Chas. II, c. i) directed 
against maiming, passed ^ as a 
consequence of the mutilation of 
Sir John Coventry by the King’s 
friends. 

Coventry blue : a species of embroidery. 
After a thread formerly manufactured 
at Coventry. 

Coventry blue, As true as : in allusion to 
the cloth and thread formerly made at 
Coventry and famous for the perman- 
ence of its colour. 

Coventry Mysteries, The: a series of 
mystery-plays performed at Coventry 
in 1 6th cent, and earlier. 

Coventry, To send a person to : to declme 
to speak to him. Possibly from an in- 
cident narrated in Clarendon's History, 
as having occurred at Birmingham, 
where certain supporters of King 
Charles were seized and sent to Coven- 
try then strongly held for the Parlia- 
ment. Another suggestion is that 
* Coventry ’ is a corruption of quaran- 
tine. [Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar 
Tongue (1785)] , 

Coverley, Sir Roger de, A : a typical 
Eng. country gentleman. After the 
nom~de^lume of the principal writer 
or writers in Addison and Steele's 
Spectator (1711-2), 

Cow of Forfiir did. To do as the : to take 
a long drink. The story runs p 
follows : A cow, passing a door in 
Forfar, drank the whole of a tub of ale 
that had been placed outside to cool. 
The owner of the ale sued the owner of 
the cow, but the decision was that as 
the ale was drunk at the door of the 
house it must be considered as a 
stirrup cup and no one could be so 
mean as to charge for that. [Scott, 
WaverUy (1814)] 

Cow and give the horns for dharity. To 
steal tiie : [Bruno, Candelaio, 1 , ii] 


[Cradker 

Cow and the haystadk. As much love as 
Ihere is between the : (Simon Wagstad 
(Jon. Swift), Polite Conversation, Dial. 
HI (1738)] 

Cow, Three acres and a : see Acres. 

Cow of the wedding, To be the : to suffer 
for another’s advantage or amusement. 
[Cervantes, Don Quixote, II, 69] 

Cow with an iron tail, A : a pump. 

Cow’s tail. Like a : ^ways behind. 

Cowboy, A : a Western- American cattle- 
man. Orig. a British marauder or 
irregular soldier active during the 
War of Independence. 

Cowper Justice : see Cupar. 

Coxcomb, A : a conceited person. On 
account of the cap, resembling the 
comb of a cock, formerly worn by a 
fool by profession. 

Coxeyites : workingmen intent on forcing 
concessions from their employers. 
After Coxey, who led a large body of 
workingmen to the Congress at 
Washington. 

Coze, To have a : to have a familiar 
conversation. Fr., causer, to talk. 

Crab, To catch a : see Catch. 

Crab-tree comb, A : see Comb. 

Crai^ : first-rate ; stylish. From 

* crack up * (^.v.). So used by Arthur 
Young in Annals of Agriculture, XIX, 

95 (1793)- 

Crack a bottle, To : open a bottle and 
drink the contents. [Shakespeare, 
2 Henry IV, V, iii, 66 (1597-8)] 

Crack a crib. To : to commit a burglary. 
Thieves* slang. 

Crack of Doom, The : the Day of Doom 
or of Judgment at the end of the world, 
when all souls will be judged. [Shakes- 
peare, Macbeth, W, i (1606)] 

Crack society : see Crack. 

0 ]»dk up. To ; to praise highly. 

Crack-brained ; Cracked : silly ; semi- 
insane. 

Crack-halter, A: a crack-rope (q.v.), 
[Josson, Schools of Abuse (1579)] 

Crack-jawed : difficult to pronounce ; 
liable to crack the jaw. 

Crack-rope, A : one fit to be hanged, 
who ought to have the chance of 
cracking a rope. [Hetmyson, in Tod* s 
Confession (c. 1450)] 

Cracked in the zing : worn out. In 
Elizabethan coins, the sovereign's 
head was enclosed in a ring. If a 
crack extended from the edge beyond 
this ring the coin ceased to be current. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, II, ii (1602-3)] 

Cracker State, The : Georgia. 



Cracksman] loi 

Cracksman, A : a burglar. See Crack 
a crib. 

Cracowe, A : a shoe with a long-pointed 
toe. After Cracow, in Poland, where 
the style of shoe originated. 

Craddock (Cradock), As conning as : after 
John Cradock, vicar of Gainford (1594)# 
High Commissioner for Durham, 
Justice of the Peace, etc., notorious 
for his corruption and other mis- 
demeanours. 

Cradle of Liberty, The : Faneuil Hall, 
Boston, U.S., the meeting-place of the 
rebels during the Amer. Revolution. 

Crail’s capon, A : see Capon. 

Crambo : rh3niie ; rhyming. From the 
name of a game in which rhymes have 
to be found for a given line. 

Cramp^ihig, A : a ring which is supposed 
to be a charm against cramp, epilepsy, 

Crampait’s horse, Swifter than : King 
Crampart made a wooden horse which 
could travel a hundred miles an hour, 
according to the story of Reynard the 
Fox. 

Crank, A: one who holds views, or 
pursues a course almost peculiar to 
himself ; an eccentric person ; a 
faddist. In allusion to the crank of a 
barrel-organ which is continually 
grinding out the same tunes. The 
term is said to have been invented by 
Donn Piatt and applied by him to 
Horace Greeley (1811-72), the Amer. 
journalist and politician. 

Crapeaa, Jean (Johnny Crapand), A : a 
popular name for a Frenchman. Lit., 
John Toad, probably, from the resem- 
blance of a portion of the design of the 
former French standard to a toad. 
Term introduced by British sailors 
during the Napoleonic Wars. 

Crape-man, A : a clergyman. From the 
material of which the dress of the 
clergy was made in i8th cent. 

Crassns, As rich as : After Marcus 
lidnius Crassus (105-53 B.C.), sur- 
named Dives (the Rich), Roman 
general and statesman. 

Cratur, A drop 0 ’ the : a drink of whis- 
key. An Irishism. Cratur, creature- 
comfort. 

Cravat, A i a neckcloth. From Fr., 
CravcUeSt the Croatians, from whose 
dress in the Austrian army the cravat 
was introduced into France in 1636. 

Cravat, To wear a hempen : to be 
hanged. In allusion to the hempen 
rope. 


[Cressid 

Oraw-thnmper, A : a derisive term 
applied to a Roman Catholic, one who 
beats his breast (at Confession). 

Crawley (Brook), As crooked as : alluding 
to the Crawley stream in Bedfordshire. 

Crazy bone. The : the funnybone. An 
Americanism. 

Crazy guilt, A : a patchwork quilt made 
on no definite design. An Americanism. 

Cream Ciiy, The : Milwaukee ; from Ihe 
colour of the bricks of which its 
houses are built. 

Creature-comfort (s) : material comforts, 
e.g., good food, clothing, housing, etc. 
[Scott, St. Rojtan's Well, ch. 28 (1824)] 

Cr^at Judsens (Apella) {Lat., The Jew 
Apella may believe it) : of an 
incredible statement. The Jew Apella 
cannot be identified. [Horace, Satires, 

I, V, 100] 

Credo, A : a creed or expression of belief. 
‘ Credo ' is the first word in the Lat. 
version of the Apostles* (or Nicene) 
Creed. 

Creep up the sleeve of . . To : to wheedle ; 
to attempt to get into the good graces 

of . . 

Creke, To cry : to repent ; to capitulate. 
[Thos. Preston, King Camhyses (1561)] 

Crhme de la cr8me (Fr., cream of creams): 
the choicest; the very pick. 

Cremona, A : a violin made at Cremona, 
in Italy. 

Creole, A : a person of pure European 
descent bom in Spanish America, or 
of pure French descent bom in 
Louisiana. 

Creole State, The : Louisiana. On 
account of its large Creole popula- 
tion. 

Crescent, The : the Turkish Pow^. 
From the figure of the new moon in 
the Turkish flag. 

Crescent City, The: New Orleans. In 
allusion to its situation on the 
Mississippi River. 

Cresset ; Cresset-light, A : a beacon- 
light. From croisset, the cage or 
basket in which the fire in a raised 
light is held. [Rob. Wilson, Three 
Lords and Three Ladies of London, 

II. 1364-5 (1590)] 

Cressid; Ckessida, A: a faithless girl. 
After the mythical daughter of a 
Trojan priest of the period of the 
Trojan War. According to Homer 
her name was Briseis. The name 
Cressid was given to her in 12th cent, 
by Benoit de Ste. More, a French 
trouvbre. 



Cretan] 102 

Cretan, To lie like a : Cretan lying has 
been proverbial from ancient days. 
Calli machos (fl. 260-240 B.C.), already 
referred to it. 

Crete, The hound of : a bloodhound. 

Cretonne : a kind of cotton fabric. 
After Creton, in Normandy. 

Crib, A : a translation of a foreign 
(usually a Classical) book, used to 
avoid the trouble of study. Probably 
from ' to crib/ to steal (thieves* 
slang) : Saxon, cvyhb. 

Crib, To crack a : see Crack. 

Crichton, The Admirable : James 
Crichton (1560-83), Scottish scholar 
and adventurer, famous for his learning 
and his many accomplishments. 

Cricket, Not ; not fair-play ; not the 
right thing to do. 

Crime, Worse than a : a blunder. The 
phrase, * It is worse than a crime, it is 
a blunder,* has been attributed to 
Talleyrand (1754-1838) in allusion to 
the execution of the Due d'Enghien ; 
to Joseph Fouche (1763-1820), and to 
Boulay de la Meurfche (1761-1840). 

Crispin, A : a shoemaker. After St. 
Crispin, the patron Saint of shoe- 
makers. 

Crispin’s holiday, St. : Monday, a day 
on which shoemakers do no work. 

Criss-cross : (properly Christ-Cross), 

(i) the sign of a cross made as a substi- 
tute for a signature ; (2) the alphabet, 
from the formula formerly recited 
before the alphabet was repeated : 

* Christ's Cross me speed.* 

Criss-Cross row : the alphabet. From 
the cross formerly placed at the 
beginning of a hom-book containing 
the alphabet, or from the form of a 
cross in which the alphabet was some- 
times written. [Greene, Selimus, Pt. 

I, U. 1900-3 (1594)] 

Criticism, The Higher : see Higher. 

Croaknmshire : Northumberland. In 
allusion to the croaking manner in 
which the natives speak. 

CrodGcile(’s) tears : hypocritical tears. 
From the belief formerly held that 
crocodiles wept in order to attract 
their victims. [Sir John Maundeville, 
Voiage (1356}] 

Croesus, A : an extremely wealthy man. 
After Croesus, King of Lydia (d. 
546 B.C.), who was famous for his 
riches. 

Croesus, A City : a wealthy merchant. 

Croesus, As rich as : see Croesus. 

Croggen, A ; a Welshman. 


[Cross-bench 

Crokers : potatoes. After Croker's 
Field, Youghal, Ireland, in which they 
were cultivated. 

Croker’s mare. As coy as : as cautious as 
a mare that carries crockery. [Jno. 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Crop-ear, A ; a person or animal whose 
ears have been cut down. 

Cropper, To come a : to suffer a fall or a 
reverse. Possibly from * to be turned 
out neck and crop * ; more probably a 
metaphor drawn from the hunting- 
field. 

Croppies : (i) a nickname given to the 
Roundheads (q.v.) ; (2) an Irish 

Republican Party in 1798 whose 
members cut their hair short in imi- 
tation of the French Republicans, 

Crosbite, A : a swindler. From ' cross- 
bite,* to bite the biter, to cheat in 
return. 

Cross as a bear, As : in allusion to the 
sport of bear-baiting. [Tbe Actors' 
Re 77 ionsirance (1643)] 

Cross as the Devil, As : very bad- 
tempered. [Vanbrugh and Cibber, 
The Provoked Husband, III, i (1728)] 

Cross, A Greek : a cross with four equal 
limbs. 

Cross, A Latin : a cross vrith the lower 
limb longer than the top. 

Cross, A Maltese : a cross with equal 
limbs indented so as to make eight 
points. 

Cross, On the ; crookedly ; not honestly. 

Cross, A St. Andrew’s : a cross with 
equal limbs like an “ X.** 

Cross and pile : (i) the obverse and 
reverse side of a coin; (2) money; 
(3) pitch and toss. Some of the old 
French coins are said to have had a 
cross on one side and a column or 
pile on the other. 

Cross as the tongs. As : a play on the 
word ‘ tongs.* 

Cross as two sticks, As : a pun on * cross * 
(ill-tempered) and ' cross * (placed 
across). 

Cross, To bear one’s ; to suffer trouble 
patiently. Cf. Matthew, x, 38 ; xvi, 
24. [Dekker and Webster, Sir 
Thomas Wyat, sc. 14 (1607)] 

Cross, To take the : to enter on a 
crusade or other iinselfish course of 
action. 

Cross-bench mind, A : a mental constitu- 
tion naturally independent and im- 
partial, that sees and weighs both 
sides of a question. From the cross- 
benches in several Parliamentary 



Cross-bones] 103 

buildings on which the independent 
members definitely committed to no 
Party sit. 

Cross-bones : bones of the arm and leg 
crossed. Together with a skull, the 
device of pirates. 

Cross-grained : ill-tempered and argu- 
mentative. Lit., of wood with an 
irregular grain and consequently a 
cause of dif&culty in working. 

Cross-patch ; Cross-piece, A : an ill- 

tempered person, esp. a woman. 

Cross-purposes, To be (play) at : to mis- 
understand one another mutually. 
[Vanbrugh, Th& Provoked Wife, XV, 
vi (1697)] 

Cross-sticks, Miss (Mrs.) : a cross or bad- 
tempered woman. [Fielding, The 
Miser, I, i (1733)] 

Crossed in love. To be : to have a 
successful rival in an affair of the 
heart. 

Crotchets in the head. To have: to 
hold curious but not very important 
views opposed to those of the majority ; 
to give expression to eccentric 
opinions. [Shakespeare, Merry Wives 
of Windsor, 1 , i (1600)] 

Crouchmas Day : May 3rd, the festival 
of the finding of the Cross. 

Crow, To eat : to recant ; to humiliate 
oneself. Two derivations have been 
offered for the phrase. According to 
the one, an American crossed the 
Canadian boundary and shot a crow. 
The man on whose land he was tres- 
passing caught him and forced him to 
eat his quarry. According to the 
second story a Federal soldier, in the 
course of the Civil War, shot a tame 
crow belonging to a planter and was 
forced by the latter to eat a portion of 
it. The soldier, when he obtained the 
opportunity, in retaliation compelled 
the planter to eat the remainder of the 
dish. Crow is, of course, a most 
unpalatable food. 

Crow, A white : see White crow. 

Crow flies. As the : in a straight line ; 
the shortest distance between two 
points. [Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, 
Pt. II (1684)] 

Crow over . . To : to exult in success 
over . . From the crowing of a cock 
after a victory in a fight. Orig., ' to 
overcrow.’ 

Crow, To pluck (pull) (pick), A : to have 
a quarrel. Orig. the phi^e meant to 
concern oneself in a matter of little im- 
portance, a crow being considered of no 


[Cry 

value. [Towneley, Plays, II : The 
Killing of Abel, 11. 308-11 (1450)] 

Crow, To teach a cock to : see Teach. 

Crow, To wash the : see Wash. 

Crow with . . To pluck (pull) A : to settle 
an unpleasant matter with . . Possibly 
in allusion to the longevity of crows 
and their corresponding toughness. 

Crows’-feet : small wrinkles at the 
comers of the eyes. On account of 
their supposed resemblance to the feet 
of crows. [Chaucer, Troylus, II, 354] 
(14th cent.) 

Crowbar Brigade, The : the Royal Irish 
Constabulary. In allusion to the 
crow-bars used by them in effecting 
evictions at times of agrarian unrest. 

Crowder, As cunning as : see Cunning. 

Crown of the East, The: Antioch in 
Syria. 

Crown Office, To have been in the : to be 
drunk. A pun on ' crown ’ as the 
equivalent of head. 

Crown of Thoms, A : grief or pain 
patiently borne. After the crown of 
thorns worn by Christ at the Cruci- 
fixion. 

Crowner’s Quest : a vulgar corruption of 
Coroner’s Inquest. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, V, i (1602)] 

Crowning mercy, A : the description 
given by Oliver Cromwell to his 
victory over the Royalists at Worcester 
(Sept. 3, 1651). 

Crumbs, To gather up the : to improve in 
health and appearance. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580)] 

Crusoe, A : a solitary person. After the 
hero of Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719). 

Crusty : short-tempered ; peevish. From 
cross, ill-tempered. [Thos. Preston, 
King Cambyses, 1. 389 (1561)] 

Cry off, To : to withdraw from an under- 
taking or projected undertaking. 

Cry, A far : a long distance. ' Cry ’ in 
the sense of the distance which a cry 
carries. 

Cry and little wool. Much : more excite- 
ment than result ; * much ado about 
nothing.’ From the mystery-play of 
David and Abigail, in which the Devil 
is depicted shearing a pig in imitation 
of Nabal shearing a sheep. The re- 
mark is attributed to the DeviL 

Cry out before one is hurt, To : to protest 
prematurely. [Rabelais, Gargantua, I, 
47 ; Montluc, La Comidie de Proverbes, 

I, ii] 

Cry, Out of : beyond measure. [Wily 
Beguiled, 11. 1641-2 (1606)] 



104 [Gnrrani 


Cry over spilt milk. To : to grieve use- 
lessly, i.e.t when it is impossible to 
remedy the harm. 

Cry stinkiiig fish. To : to depreciate 
one's own goods or interests. [Jeremy 
Taylor, Ductor Duhitantium, 805 
(1660)] 

Cry-hahy, A r a term of contempt for 
a big child who is moved to tears over 
a trivial matter. 

Crying evil (shame) (sin). A: an evil 
(cause of shame) (sin) so obvious that 
it may be said to cry out. [Burton, 
Anatomy of Melancholy, Pt. I, Sect, i 
(1621)] 

Cab, A half-licked (nnlioked) : an ill- 
mannered lout, like a bear-cub 
insufi&dently licked by its dam . [Con- 
greve, Old Bachelor, IV, 8 (1693)] 

Cnbe, A faultless : an almost perf^t 
man. [Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 
I, ii. Sect. II.] 

Cndking-stool, A : a chair in which 
ofiendcrs, esp. women, were formerly 
fastened and dipped as a punish- 
ment. 

Gin&oo storm, A ; a spring wind that 
brings the cuckoo earlier than usual. 

Cncomber-iime t the dull season of 
the year. From the Germ, phrase, 
die sav.re Gurhen-Zeit, the pickled 
cucumber-time. 

Cuddy, A : (i) a bribe or gift ; formerly 
rent paid to a landlord ; still earlier, 
entertainment due by a tenant to his 
lord ; Irish, cuid oidkche, evening 
portion ; (2) a fool, a gipsy term ; 
Hindu, ghiidda, an ass. 

Cudgel one’s brains. To : to make mental 
exertions. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, V, i. 
63 (1602)] 

Cudgds, To take np the : to take the 
part of in a contest or dispute. 
Qas. Puckle, The Club (1711)] 

Cueqio, In (Span., in the body) : naked ; 
without a cloak, so as to display the 
form of the body. [R. Cock, Diary, I 
(1622)] 

Oui bono P (Lat., to whose advantage ?) : 
quoted by Cicero in the Second 
Philippic, *14, 35, and elsewhere as a 
saying by Lucius Cassius in trying a 
man for "murder, 

Oulturkampf : see Kulturkampf . 

Cum giano gfllia [Lat., with a grain of 
salt) : making allowance for over- 
statement ; with reserve. 

Cnnoiator, A (Led., one who delays) : 
after the title given to Quintus Fabius 
Maximus (275-203 B.C.), who defeated 


Hannibal by avoiding a general 
engagement. 

Cunning as Crowder, As : after Samuel 
Crowder, a carrier in North-West 
England, who displayed great in- 
genuity. An alternative derivation 
is from * cunning,' skilful, and 
' crowder,' fiddler. 

Cup that cheers bat not inebriates. The : 
tea. [Cowper, Ihe Task: 2 he Winter 
Eve-ning, IV, 34 (1784)] 

Cup, To drink the : to bear whatever 
sorrows befall one. [Matthew, xx, 22] 

Cup of life to the bottom. To drink the : 
to participate in all the experiences of 
life. 

Cup and lip, Between : on the point of 
achievement. From the proverb, 
' There is many a slip 'twixt the cup 
and the lip.* [Aulus Gellius, XIII, 18] 

Cup to run over : blessings to overflow. 
[Psalm xxiii, 5-6] 

Caps, In one’s : intoxicated. [Thos. 
Preston, King - Cambyses, 11. qi6-8 
(1561)] 

Cupar Justice ; Jedburgh Justice : lynch 
Law. From a practice formerly in 
force in Coupar-Angus. 

Cupboard love : love dependent on the 
prospect of advantage. [Herrick, 
Poor Robin (1661)] 

Cupid, A : a beautiful boy. From the 
pictorial representations of the God 
of Love. 

Cupid’s golden arrow : virtuous love. 

Cupid’s leaden arrow : sensual love. 

Cupids in the eyes. To look for : to look 
closely into one’s lover’s eyes so as to 
see oneself reflected there. Cf. Babies 
in the eyes. [Drayton, Polyolbion, II 

(1613)] 

Curapoa : a liqueur. Orig. made in the 
island of Cura9oa. 

Curfew (-bell), A : an evening bell. 
Orig. a public signal to extinguish 
lights. From couvrir, to cover, and 
feu, fire. 

Curled darlings : (i) well-dressed idle 

young men in general; [Shakespeare, 
Othello, I, ii (1604)] (2) military officers, 
a term applied to them during their 
period of popularity after the close of 
the Crimean War. 

Curmudgeon, A : a miser ; a surly bad- 
tempered man. Possibly from coeur 
mechant, evil heart. 

Currant;, A : (i) a small dried grape. 
From raisins de Courauntx, grapes of 
Corinth, Greece, whence they are 
exported- 



(terantl 105 [Cut 


Currant {2) ; curranto, A : a liar. After 
the currants or newspapers (* currant 
newes') of 17th cent. They were 
notorious for their general un- 
reliability. 

Curranto, As true as a : false. [Donald 
Lupton, London and the Country 
Larhonadoed (1632)] See Currant (2). 

Currente calamo {Lat., with a running 
pen) : on the spur of the moment ; 
without premeditation. [Horace Wal- 
pole, Letters, VI (1776)] 

Curse, Not worth a : either from the 
name of the wild cherry, or perhaps 
derived from Anglo-Sax. cerse, 
watercress. [Langland, Piers Plow- 
man (1362)] 

Curse of Scotland, The: the Nine of 
Diamonds. Possibly from the 
armorial bearings of Dalrymple, Earl 
of Stair — ^nine lozenges on a saltire — 
who was much hated and was termed 
' The Judas of the Countiy.* Other 
derivations are : (i) a similar resem- 
blance to the armorial bearings of Col. 
Packer who commanded the forces in 
Scotland during the time of the 
Commonwealth ; (2) the pla3dng-card 
on which the Duke of Cumberland 
gave instructions on the night before 
the Battle of CuUoden (1746) to his 
generals to give no quarter; (3) the 
importance of the card in the game of 
Comet, introduced into Scotland by 
James II of England shortly before his 
accession it proved the ruin of many 
Scottish families ; (4) the designation 
of the card in the game of Pope Joan 
as ' The Pope * ; (5) nine tyrannical 
kings of Scotland, diamonds being 
emblematical of royalty. The term is 
also said to be an equivalent of the 
Cross of Scotland, the nine pips on the 
card orig. forming a St. Andrew’s 
Cross. 

Curtail (Cut-tail) dog, A : orig. the dog of 
a person not authorized to hunt; 
later, a dog not used for sport. These 
dogs had their tails cut short, partly to 
identify them, and partly because a 
tail -was thought to interfere with 
their running. 

Curtaiu-lectuie, A ; a string of matri- 
monial censure and criticism delivered 
nightly by a nagging wife to her 
husband in bed, i.e., within the 
curtains, when he wants to go to sleep. 
The term was popularized by Douglas 
Jerrold, Mrs. C audit* s Curtain Lectures, 
which first appeared as a serial in 


Punch. The term forms the title of a 
little book by T.H. (? Thos. Heywood) 
published in 1637. 

Curtain-iaiser, A : a short preliminary 
theatrical piece that precedes the 
main play. Fr., lever-de-rideau. 

Cushion, To miss (Mt) the : to fail 
(succeed) in an undertaking. Meta- 
phor drawn from archery. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Cushion, To set beside the : to ignore ; 
pass over with contempt. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Cuss, A : (i) a curse ; (2) a somewhat 
despised person. 

Cuss, Not worth a : see Curse. 

Customer, An ugly : one whose character 
gives justifiable cause for expectation 
of harm or difficulty. 

Custos Rotulorum : Keeper of the 
Records of an English county, an 
office now practically merged in that 
of Lord Lieutenant. 

Cut the cackle and come to the ’osses. To : 
to cut a long story short and come 
direct to the principal matter. Phrase 
attributed to Philip Astley (1742- 
1814), the circus-proprietor, when 
criticising an equestrian show which 
was being exhibited before him. 

Cut a comb. To : to suppress a conceited 
person. A farmyard metaphor, [G. 
Harvey, Pierce* s Supererog. (i593)] 

Cut a da^, To : to swagger ; to dress so 
as to attract attention. [Foote, Maid 
of Bath, I (1771)] 

Cut a person’s daws. To : to deprive a 
person of his opportunities for mischief. 
[Peter Pindar, The Rights of Kings, 
Ode I (1791)] 

Cut above . . A : a rank above . . 

Cut acquaintance. To : without apparent 
reason to ignore a person previously 
known. [S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, 
II, i (1634)] . ^ ^ ^ , , 

Cut and come agam. To : to have at one s 
disposal an unfailing supply. Orig. of 
a joint of meat from which one can 
cut a helping and then return for a 
further portion. [Swift, Polite Con- 
versation, Dial, ii (1738)] 

Cut and run. To : to maie ofi in a hurry. 
Properly, to cut the cable without 
waiting to weigh anchor. 

Cut blocks with a razor. To : to ruin a 
valuable instrument where a cheaper 
one would serve better. 

Cut both ways. To : of an argument, 
action, etc., that tells for and against 
one ; harms as well as benefits. 



io6 


Cut] 

[Peter Pindax, Farewell Odes, Ode iv 
(1786)] 

Cut no ice. To : to carry no weight ; to 
have no influence. 

Cut of one’s jih, The : one's personal 
appearance. A nautical metaphor. 

Cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face, To : 
to do oneself a considerable injury for 
the sake of gaining a minor end. 

Cut off with a shilling, To : to disinherit. 
Under Roman law a man was com- 
pelled to bequeath a portion of his 
estate to his natural heir ; to leave him 
a shilling or a similar trivial amount is 
practicaUy to disinherit him. 

Cut one’s eye-teeth. To : see Cut one's 
wisdom-teeth. 

Cut one’s coat according to one’s doth. 
To : see Coat. 

Cut one’s sticks. To : to depart ; escape. 
In reference apparently to the cutting 
of a stafi preparatory to a journey. 
Cut one’s wisdom- (eye-) teeih. To : to 
arrive at the years of discretion. 

Cut out, To : to supersede or supplant 
a rival. 

Cut out for, To be : to be specially 
fitted for. 

Cut the ground from under a person’s 
feet, To : to destroy the basis of a 
person's argument, project, etc. 

Cut the knot, To : to solve a serious 
difficulty. See Gordian Knot. 

Cut the painter. To : see Painter. 

Cut up rough, To : to show ill-temper or 
displeasure. 

Cut-and-dry (-dried) ; completely ready 
for attention. A metaphor from the 
timber-trade. 

Out-purse, A : a pickpocket ; a thief. 
Lit., one who steals by cutting purses, 
which used to be worn at the girdle. 

Cut-throat competition : fierce compe- 
tition that is reckless of consequences. 

Cutlers’ poetry : doggerel verse. From 
the lines formerly engraved on knife- 
blades. [Shakespeare, Merchant of 
Venice, V, i (1596)] 

Cutler’s Law : never to let another want 
so long as one has means of alleviating 
his distress. The practice of cut- 
purses and other criminals. 

Cutty stool, A : the stool of repentance ; 
formerly in S Gotland, the seat in church 
on which offenders sat while they were 
publicly rebuked by the pastor. 

Cycle of Cathay, A : see Cathay, 

Cycle of the moon, A : a period of 19 
years, after which the date of the moon 
recurs. 


[Daft 

Cycle of the sun, A : a period of 28 years. 

Cyclic Poets, The : epic poets subsequent 
to Homer who wrote of the Trojan 
War, keeping within the circle of a 
single subject. 

Cyclopean : gigantic ; fierce. After the 
Cyclops, a mythological race of 
Sicilian giants. 

Cymerian darkness : see Cimmerian. 

Cynic ; cynical : sneering ; suspicious of 
good. The Cynics were a school of 
Grk. philosophers who, holding virtue 
and knowledge as the sum of good- 
ness, were contemptuous of all else. 
From Grk, kuon, a dog ; on account of 
their morose tenets. 

Csmosure : a centre of attraction. From 
the name of the constellation of the 
Lesser Bear, to which the eyes of 
mariners are often directed. 

Cynthia’s lamp : the moon. After 
Cynthia, one of the names of Diana, 
the goddess of the Moon, who was 
bom on Mount Cynthus, in Delos. 

Cyprian, A : a harlot. From Cyprus, 
once a centre of the worship of Venus. 
Also used as an adjective. 

Cyprian Goddess, The : Venus ; see 
Cyprian. 

Cyprian Trade, The : prostitution ; see 
Cyprian. 

Cyrano, A : a large nose. After Edmond 
Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. 

Czar : the title borne by the Emperor of 
Russia and the Edngs of Bulgaria. 
From Caesar. First assumed in Russia 
by Ivan III (1472). 

Czar Liberator, The: Alexander II of 
Russia, who liberated the serfs in 
1861. 


D.T. : delirium tremens. 

Da capo {Ital., from the beginning) : to 
repeat precisely. A musical term. 

Dab at . . To be a : to be thoroughly 
expert at . . A corruption of * adept.* 
[Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to the Royal 
Academicians for 1783, Ode VIII] 

Daddy Long-legs, A : a popular name 
for the crane-fly. From its long legs. 

Daedal ; dsedalian : ingenious, intricate. 
After Daedalus, of Crete, a mythical 
craftsman, the personification of all 
handicrafts and of art. 

Daedale earth : earth variously adorned. 
[Spenser, Faerie Queene, Bk. IV, canto 
X, St. 45 (1596)] 

Daft days. The : the days of merriment 
at Christmas. 



Daggw] 107 

Dagger ale : ale. After ' The Dagger/ 
a celebrated iTth-cent. tavern in 
Holbom, London. 

Daggers icawn, At : in a state of 
declared hostility. 

Daggers at . . To look : to look at with 
an aspect of hostility. 

Dago, A : an American or sailor’s name 
for a Spanish, Portuguese or Italian 
immigrant or seaman. From Span., 
Diego, James, a common name among 
Spaniards. 

Dagon, A : an idol. After the god of 
the Philistines. 

Daguerrotype, A : an early method of 
photography ; a photograph so taken. 
After Louis J. M. Daguerr^ (1789- 
1851), the French inventor. 

Daily Telegraphese : a * cheap * exagger- 
ated ' journalese,’ a literary style 
similar to that at one time used by 
regular writers in the (London) Daily 
Telegraph. 

Daimio, A : a Japanese feudal noble. 
From Chinese dai myo, great name. 

Daisy-cutter, A : (i) a horse that, when 
in motion, raises its feet but slightly 
from the ground; (2) a cricket-ball 
bowled along the ground instead of 
being cast upwards. 

Dalmatica, A : a robe worn on occasions 
by priests, and formerly by kings. 
After Dalmatia, whence it was intro- 
duced into Rome by the Emperor 
Commodus (d. 169). 

Daltonism: colour-blindness. After John 
Dalton (1766-1844), Eng. chemist, who 
suffered from this infirmity. 

Damascene, To : to inlay metal with 
gold or silver ; to variegate the 
appearance of steel blades. After 
Damascus, where such work was 
done. 

Damasco, A : a sword of exceptional 
temper. Formerly manufactured at 
Damascus. 

Damascus of the North, The : Bosna- 
Serai. On account of its ntimerous 
trees and gardens, for which Damascus 
is famous. 

Damask ; linen woven in raised figures ; 
formerly silk similarly woven. After 
Damascus, where the fabrics were 
woven. 

Damask rose : a variety of rose native 
to Damascus. 

Damask steel : see Damascene. 

Dame Earth : see Mother Earth. 

Dame Partington’s broom ; see 
Partington, 


[Dance 

Darner, As rich as: John Darner, of 
Antrim, migrated to Tipperary, where 
he attained wealth, in the reign of 
George I. 

Damiens’ Bed of Steel : an instrument of 
torture to which Robert Frangois 
Damiens was bound after his attempt 
on the life of Louis XV in 1757. 
[Goldsmith, The Traveller, 436 (1764)] 

Dammarel, A : (Fr., Damaret) an 

effeminate man, fond of the company 
of the fair sex. 

Dammy ; Dammy Boy, A : an unruly 
person. In allusion to the habit of 
the excessive use of the word ‘ damn ' 
and general swearing by the man-about 
town of 1 6th and 17th cents. 

Damn for . . Not to care a (twopenny) : 
to have not the smallest fear of or 
concern for . . From dam, a small 
Hindu coin worth less than a farthing. 
Orig. an Anglo-Indian phrase. A ’two- 
penny ’ damn arose from a folk- 
etymological association of the word 
with ’ damn,’ condemn. 

Damn with faint praise. To : to praise so 
sHghtly, or in such an equivocal 
manner, that the unexpressed criticism 
condemns. [Pope, Epistle to Arbuth- 
^ot (1735)3 

Damnosa hereditas {Lat.) : inheritance 
that brings loss instead of gain. 

Damocles’ sword, A : a threatening 
danger. Damocles (4th cent. B.C.) 
was a courtier of Dionysius of Syracuse, 
over whose head at a royal feast a 
sword was hung by a thread. 

Damon and PytMas : two inseparable 
friends. They flourished at the Court 
of Dionysius of Sj^cuse in 4th cent. 
B.C. Their devotion to one another 
is proverbial. 

Damson, A : a small variety of plum. 
After Damascus, whence it was 
introduced. 

Dan to Beersheba, Prom : from one ex- 
treme limit of a country, etc., to the 
other; the biblical fonnula for the 
limits of the Holy Land (Dan in the 
north, Beersheba in the south). 
[Judges, XX, i] 

Dan Comnto, A : see Comuto. 

Danai, A gift of : a Greek gift (q.v.). 

Danaid’s work : futile and long drawn 
out work. From the punishment of 
the Danaides, daughters of Danaus, 
King of Argos, of eternally pouring 
water into sieves. 

Dance attendance on . . To : to attend 
obsequiously on . . ; to be at the 



Dance] 


io 8 


[Darby 


beck and call of . . In allusion to the 
early practice of the bride being ex- 
pected to dance with every guest who 
might ask her. [Pasion Letters, No. 

The : a representation of 
Death leading people of all classes to 
the grave. 

Dance (of) Macabre : see Dance of Death. 
Macabre is a form of St. Macarius, an 
Egyptian anchorite who appears in 
13th cent, legend with which the 
representation of the Dance of Death 
broame connected. 

Dance on a volcano. To : to enjoy oneself 
with dire misfortune impending. 
Phrase used by the Comte de Salvandy 
(1796-1856) at a fete given by the 
Duke of Orleans to the King of Naples 
in 1830. 

Dance the Tyburn jig, To : to be hanged. 
Tyburn was a former place of execu- 
tion in London. 

Dance to another tune. To : to suddenly 
change one's action. 

Dance to another’s piping. To : to have 
to act in accordance with another's 
demands. In allusion to the music 
of mythology which compelled all 
hearers to dance . [Heywood, Proverbes 

("546)] _ , . 

Dance, To lead a person a (pretty) ; to 
give him a bad time, to cause him 
much unnecessary trouble. [Paston 
Letters, No. 1006 (15th cent.)] 

Dance, To open (lead) (begin) the : to 


commence. 

Dance, To teach an old woman to : see 
Teach. 

Dance to the tune of . . To : to follow 
submissively the directions given or 
the wishes expressed or unexpressed. 
[Sir Thos. Overbury, Characters : 
A Timist (1616)] 

Dance upon nothing. To : to be hanged 
(one's feet being in the air). 

Dancing Chancellor, The : Sir Christo- 
pher Hatton (1540-91), Lord Chan- 
cellor of England, who first attracted 
the attention of Queen Elizabeth by 
his dancing. 

Dancing Days : youth. [Shakespeare, 
Romeo and Juliet, 1 , v, 11 . 32-3 {1592)] 

Dander up, To get one’s : to become 
angry. Probably from ' dander' in 
the sense of ferment ; or^ possibly 
from * dandrufi ' as the equivalent of 
hair or fur of an animal. 

Dandle Dinmont, A : a species of terrier. 
After a character in Sir W. Scott's 


Guy Mannering (1815), the owner of 
two dogs of this species. 

Dandies, The Prince of the : Beau 
Brummell (1778-1840), a famous 
beau. 

Dandin, a George: one who marries 
above his station. After a character 
in a comedy of that title by Molifere 
(1668). 

Dandiprat, A : see Dandyprat. 

Dando, A : a glutton, esp. one who cheats. 
After a personage of that description 
named Dando. 

Dandy, A : a fop. Introduced from the 
Scottish Border (c. 1800). In use in 
the form Jack-a-dandy a century and a 
half earlier. Possibly a corruption of 
Andrew ; or from Dandin, George (q,v.). 

Dandy-horse, A : an early form of 
bicycle, on which the rider propelled 
himself by treading the ground with 
alternate feet. 

Dandy King, The : Joachim Murat, 
king of Naples. 

Dandy-prat, A : a dwarf. Possibly from 
the name of a small coin minted in the 
reign of Henry VII. 

Dane’s »kfn ; freckled skin. From the 
tradition "^at freckles denote remote 
Danish origin. 

Daniel come to Ju^ment, A : an upright, 
just judge, impervious to all influence. 
From the description of Portia, given 
by Shylock, when he thought that she 
was deciding in his favour. [Shakes- 
peare, Merchant of Venice, TV, i, 1. 223 
(^595)3 

Dmiit^ The : an Order in the Mormon 
Church, committed to support the 
leaders in all circumstances. 

Dantesque : sombre and sublime. In 
allusion to the style of Dante's Inferno. 

Daphne, A : a beautiful young girl im- 
spoilt by society or fashion. After a 
nymph in Grk. mythology. 

Daphnis, A : a young shepherd. Aft^ a 
Grk. mythological shepherd. Familiar- 
ised by a Grk. pastoral romance of 
4th or 5th cent., Daphnis and Chios ; 
by innumerable other romances ; by 
Beaumont and Fletcher, The Faithful 
Shepherdess (1609), etc. 

Darbies : handcufis. After a notorious 
usurer of the i6th cent. [Gascoigne, 
Steel Glass, I, 787 (1576)] 

Darby and Joan, A : a couple devoted to 
one another after many years of 
married life. After a ballad by Henry 
Woodfall, published iaThe Gentleman* s 
MagaHne, Vol. V, 153 (1735)* 



109 


Darby’s] 

Darby’s bands : strict bonds by which a 
debtor bound himself. Possibly after 
the usurer : see Darbies. [Marriage 
of Wit and Science, IV, i (1570)] 

Darbyiste, A : a member of the sect 
of Plymouth Brethren. After John 
Nelson Darby (1800-82), their first 
leader. 

Dare-devil, A : a reckless person ; one 
ready to dare the Devil. 

Dares, A : a pugilist. After the Trojan 
purist in Virgil, Mneid, V. 

Dark, To be in the : to be without know- 
ledge in some particular matter. 

Dark Ages, The : the Middle Ages. On 
account of the intellectual darkness of 
that period. More narrowly (c. 814- 
c. 987). 

Dark and Bloody Ground, The : the 

State of Kentucky, of whose name the 
term is said to be a translation of 
one of the Indian dialects. It is, how- 
ever, more probably derived from the 
bloody warfare with the Indians of 
which the State was in early days the 
scene. 

Dark Continent, The : Africa. On 
account of the unknown character of 
the continent until recent years. [Sir 
H. M. Stanley, Through the Dark 
Continent (1878)] 

Dark as Erebus, As : see Erebus. 

Dark, To keep : to keep secret. 

Dark, To keep • . in the : to conceal from. . 

Dark, A leap in the : see Leap. 

Dark horse, A : a competitor of whose 
character or capabilities nothing is 
known by the public ; one who 
suddenly appears at the last moment 
without any previous warning, i,e., has 
previously been kept in the dark. 
Orig. a racing term, applied to an 
unlmown horse in a horse-race. 

Darkness visible : extreme darkness. 
Phrase coined by Milton in Paradise 
Lost, Bk. I, 1. 62 (1667b 

Darling of the Graces, The : (i) Aris- 
tophanes (444-380 B.C.), so-called by 
Goethe, in his introduction to The 
Birds ; (2) Heine (1789-1856), German 
poet. 

Dash, To cut a : see Cut. 

Dash-buckler, A : a swaggerer. Related 
to swashbuckler. See Cut a dash. 

Date, Dp to ; not behind the times ; 
wide-awake and fully acquainted with. 
Orig. a book-keeping phrase. 

Daughter of Eve ; a woman. [Shakes- 
peare, Merry Wives of Windsor, IV, 
ii, 11. 23-5 (1600)] 


[Day 

Daughter of the horse-leech, A : one who 

is perpetually putting forward 
demands. [Proverbs, xxx, 15] 

Daughter of Peneus, The : the bay-tree, 
which flourishes best on the banks of 
the River Peneus. 

Daughter of the Sphere, The : the echo. 

[Milton, At a Solemn Musick, 1. 2 
(1630)] 

Dauphin, The : the eldest son of the 
King of France. After the Dauphin6, 
a Fr. province. The name of the 
province was derived from the dolphin 
which the Seigneur, Guy VIII, Count 
of Vienne, wore as his cognizance. 

David, A : a youthful hero. After the 
King of Israel. 

David and Jonathan : two devoted 
friends. After the friendship of David 
and Jonathan (II Samuel, i, 26)] 

David’s sow. As drunk as : see Drunk. 

Davy- Jones : the controlling genius of 
the ocean. Possibly a corruption of 
‘ dufly,* a West- Indian negro's ghost, 
and * Jonah,' the prophet. 

Davy-Jones’ locker : the sea as the final 
resting-place of the drowned. See 
Davy Jones. 

Davy Jones’ natural children : smugglers ; 
pirates. See Davy Jones. 

Davy putting on coppers for parsons: 
indications of a coming storm at sea. 
See Davy Jones. 

Davy-lamp, A : a lamp which may be 
used with safety in a coal-mine. After 
the inventor. Sir Humphrey Davy 
(1778-1829). 

Davy’s dust : ^npowder. After Davy 
Jones, the ssulors’ Devil [q.v.). 

Davy’s sow : see Drunk as David's sow. 

Daw, To play the : to behave as a fool. 
From the popular belief that the 
daw is an exceptionally foolish bird. 

Dawcock, A : an empty, chattering 
fellow. Properly, a mie-daw. See 
Daw, To play the. 

Dawk : travel by relays ; relays of men, 
horses or pianquins for travelling 
dawk. An Anglo-Indian term. 

Day after the fair, A : too late. [Hey- 
wood. Proverbs, Pt. I, ch. viii (1546)] 

Day after to-morrow, lie : never, on the 
principle that to-morrow never comes. 

Day of Doom, The : see Doomsday. 

Day of Judgment, The : the last day of 
the life of the world, when all men 
will be judged. 

Day of Wrath, The : the last day of the 
world, on which the Divine Wrath 
will be kindled against the wicked. 



I to 


Day] 

Day, To carry the : to win in a contest. 

Day, To have had one’s : to have been 
snccessful, powerful, wealthy, etc., 
in the past, but to be no longer so. 
From the proverb : * Every dog has 
his day.' 

Days of one. To mate two : to delay. 

Days to he nnmbered. One’s : to be 
within a short distance of one's death. 

Day’s work. To he all in a : to be treated 
as a part of the ordinary routine. 
[Swift, Polite Conversations, Dial. I 

(1738)] 

Day-dream, A : a revene, esp. a pleasant 
one. 

Daylight, To hum: to waste time. 
[Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, 
11, i, 1. 54 (x6oo)] 

Daylight (through . .) To see : to foresee 
the successful end of an arduous task 
or undertaking. Metaphor drawn 
from the passage through a long tunnel. 

De die in diem (Lot.) : from day to day. 

De facto {Lat., by the fact) : in reality. 
[Bacon, Essays : Of Great Place (1625)] 

De jure {Lat., by law) : [Bradford, 
Writings (1550}] 

Denovo [Lat., from a new [start]) : anew, 
afresh. [In Engl, about 1630] 

De profondis : an expression of deep 
sorrow. The first two words of 
Psalm cxxx : * Out of the depths.' 

De proprio motu (Lat., of one's own 
motion) : of one's own initiative ; 
spontaneously. 

De trop (Fr., too many) : in the way. 
[Lord Chesterfield, Letters, II (1752)] 

Dead against. To he : to be directly 
opposed to. 

Dead as Chelsea, As : not necessarily 
dead, but permanently incapacitated. 
The allusion is to Chelsea Hospital, the 
hostel for superannuated soldiers. The 
phrase is said to have originated with a 
grenadier at the Battle of Fontenoy, 
who applied it to himself when his leg 
was carried away by a cannon-ball. 

Dead as a door-nail. As : absolutely-dead, 
as if one had been knocked on the 
head as is a door-nail or knob. [WiU. 
Palerme, 628 (1350) ; Langland, Piers 
Plowman, A, 1 , 161 (14th cent.)] 

Dead as Queen Axme, As : see Queen Anne. 

Dead, To ask counsd of the : to refer to 
books. [Diogenes Laertius, VII, i, 3 ; 
Bacon, Essays : Of Counsell (1625)] 

Dead ceirt (certainty), A : that which is 
certain to occur. Possibly corrupted 
from ' as certain as death.' A meta- 
phor from the race-course. 


[Dead 

Dead Fire : St. Elmos' Fire, super- 
stitiously believed to foretell death. 

Dead Hand : control by laws, regulations, 
etc., made in the past by those now 
■' dead. Translation of Fr., mort main. 
Dead Hand of the Church, The : perpetual 
tenure of property by the Church, as 
distinguished from tenure by an 
individual. 

Dead head, A : a person admitted to a 
public entertainment without pay- 
ment. Said to have been derived firom 
a toll-gate leading to a cemetery in 
Delaware. A physician on paying the 
toll once remark^ that, in view of his 
profession, he ought to be permitted to 
pass free. The reply he received was : 
* We can't afford that. You send too 
many deadheads through here as it is.' 

Dead heat, A : a race or other competi- 
tion in which two or more competitors 
are exactly equal, resulting in a ' tie.' 
A * heat ' is that part of a race that is 
run without stopping ; a * dead heat ' 
is therefore a futfie heat having no 
result. 

Dead as a herring. As : either from the 
belief that herrings die on leaving the 
water more quickly than most other 
fish, or because to the masses the 
herring is known only as a dead fish. 
[T. Nabbes, Tottenham Cotirt {1638)] 

Dead horse : work for which payment is 
made before it is completed. [Cart- 
wright, Siedge (1651)] 

Dead horse, To flog a : to exert oneself 
to no purpose. 

Dead horse. To work on the : see Horse. 

Dead language, A : a language no 
longer spoken. 

Dead letter, A : (i) a post-letter which is 
undeliverable through an undecipher- 
able address, etc. ; (2) a law that has, 
without being repealeSd, become obso- 
lete. The Dead Letter OjB&ce is a 
former name of the Returned Letter 
Department of the (London) General 
Post Office, where ' dead ' letters are 
dealt with. 

Dead lift. To he at a : to be in a consider- 
able difficulty. [G. Wilkins, Miseries 
of Enforced Marriage, TV, U. 574-5 
(1607)] 

Dead as a log. As : motionless. [Benj. 
Franklin, Poor Richard* s Almanac for 
^Aprit] 

Dead men’s shoes. To wait for : to live 
in expectation of a legacy or other 
advantage from a man's death. 
[He3rwood, Proverbes (1546)] 



Dead] iii 

(Dead) nuts on . . To be : to be devoted 
to . . 

Dead of night. The : at the stillest hour 
of the night ; at midnight. [Hall, 
Chronicle (1548)] 

Dead pay : pay dishonestly drawn by 
officers after the death of the soldiers 
to whom it relates. [DeMcer and 
Webster, Northward Ho, I, ii (1607)] 

Dead reckoning, A ; an estimate of a 
ship's position by calculations indepen- 
dent of astronomical observations. 

Dead Sea &uit : see Apple, Dead Sea. 

Dead set at . . To make a : to make a 
determined attack on , , Perhaps 
alluding to the setter dog. 

Dead shares : pay made to naval officers 
based on the fiction of a complement 
larger than the reality. 

Dead shot, A : an accurate marksman, 
certain to hit his objective. 

Dead, To chastise the : see Chastise. 

Dead, To paint the : see Paint. 

Dead weight : a heavy inert mass, such 
as a dead body. 

Deadlock, A : a situation in which the 
two opposing parties mutually prevent 
any advance towards or retreat from 
one another. 

Deaf as an adder. As : from the legend 
that the adder, in order to safeguard 
himself from the charmer, presses one 
ear against the ground and inserts his 
tail in the other. [Psalm, Iviii, 4; 
Shakespeare, 2 King Henry VI, III, 
ii. 76 (1593)] 

Deaf as an ass, As : from the popular 
belief that the ass has no ear for music. 

Deaf as a beetle. As ; the beetle in this 
simile is generally believed to be a 
mallet, which is dull and consequently 
deaf and also dumb. 

Deaf as a door-nail. As : absolutely deaf. 
[Alexander, 4747 (1420)] 

Deaf as a (door) post. As : quite deaf, or 
so inattentive as to appear so. 

Deaf as a stone. As : [Horace, Epodes, 
XVII, 53-5 ; Occleve, De Regimine 
Principum (1450)] 

Deaf as a wave. As : [Euripides, Medea, 

28 ; Milton, Samson Agonistes, 960-4 
(1671)] 

Deaf as a white cat. As : from the popular 
belief that white cats are deaf and 
stupid. 

Deaf-nuts, To live on : to be dependent 
on the worthless or unsubstantial. A 
‘ deaf ' nut is a nut without a kernel. 
[Bp. Hall, Sermons, I Saw., xii, 24 

(1613)] 


[Deficit 

Death, In at the : present at the crowning 
of an undertaking. A fox-hunting 
metaphor. 

Death bell, A : a passing bell ; a ringing 
noise in the ear, superstitiously believed 
to foretell a death. 

Death or Glory Boys, The : the 17th 
Lancers. From their badge, a Death's 
Head and the words ' Or Glory.' 

Death’s door. To be at ; to be at the 
point, or imost the point, of death. 
[Coverdale, Spiritual Perle, XVIII 

(1550)] 

Death’s-head, A : a human skull. 

Death-watch, A : an insect whose ticking, 
usually on a window, is supposed to 
foretell a death. 

Debatable Land, The : the borderland 
between two countries claimed by 
both; esp. a tract between the Esk 
and the Sark on the border of England 
and Scotland. 

Debt, Bad : see Bad. 

Debt of honour, A : a gambling-debt, 
which cannot be legally enforced. 

Debt of Nature, The : death. [Caxton, 
Art and Craft How to Die (1491)] 

Decalogist, The : Rev. John Dod (1549- 
1645), Eng. Puritan divine, in allusion 
to his famous exposition of the 
Decalogue. 

December and May ; of a married couple, 
the husband old and the wife young. 

Dedmo, A man in : a hobble-de-hoy. 

Decks, To clear the : to get minor matters 
out of the way preparatory to under- 
taking a more important engagement. 

Decoration Day : May 30th, on which 
the graves of those who fell in the 
American Civil War (1861-5) sure 
decorated with flowers. 

Decoy duck, A : a person, animal, or 
inanimate object used as a means of 
enticing into a trap. Orig. a duck 
trained to decoy wild ducks into a 
trap. 

Decretals, The False : Papal edicts, 
forged in 9th cent., in order to support 
the claims of the Papacy. 

Dedalian; see Daedal. 

Deeds not words : action insteaui of talk. 

Deep waters. In: see Waters. 

Defender of the Faith : a title borne by 
the kings of England, first conferred 
on Henry VIII by the Pope in recog- 
nition of his zeal in opposing the 
Reformers. 

Deficit, Madame : Marie Antoinette. In 
allusion to the State deficits said to 
have been due to her extravagance. 



Deikabrists] 


TI2 


[Demy 


Dekabrists, The : the conspirators con- 
cerned in the abortive Russian Revo- 
lution of 1825. From December, the 
month in which the rising occurred. 

Delectable MonntauiSy The : the moun- 
tains from which the Celesti^ City 
was to be seen. Cf. Bunyan, Pilgrim* s 
Progress (1678). 

D^gationSy The : the deliberative 
assembly representative of Austria 
and Hungary jointly, by which the 
common affaire of the two halves of 
the former Austrian Empire were 
. governed. 

Ddenda est Carthago [Lai,, Carthage 
must be destroyed) : a quotation from 
Plutarch's life of Cato, stated to have 
been uttered in the Senate by Cato 
(234-149 B.C.) after a visit to Carthage 
during which he noticed its prosperity, 
strength and wealth. 

Delian Problem, The: the problem of 
finding the cube-root of 2, From the 
answer of the oracle of Delos that a 
plague would be stayed when Apollo's 
altar, which was cubical, was doubled. 

Delight of Mankind, The : the Emperor 
Titus (40-81). 

Delilah, A : a temptress. After Delilah, 
the betrayer of Samson. xvi] 

Dcdiver the goods. To : to carry out one’s 
undertaking ; to complete a contract 
by carrying out one's own side of it. 

Della Grasca ; Della Croscan [Itai., of the 
chaff) : after the Accademia della 
Crusca, founded at Florence in 1582, 
celebrated for its dictionary of the 
Italian language and its endeavours to 
si^ and purify the language. * Della 
Cruscan ' is used by English writers to 
designate an artificial style in ]poetry. 
Robert Merry (1755-98), a ^ter of 
this character, adored the signature 
' Ddia Crusca ' on account of his 
membership of the Accademia, 

Della Robbia : a kind of terra cotta. 
After Luca della Robbia (1399-1482), 
the inventor. 

Delphic (Ddphian) ambUniity : 
the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, in 
Greece. 

Delphic sword, A : a two-edged sword. 
In allusion to the ambiguities of the 
Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. [Aristotle, 
PoUtica, I, 2] 

Dcdphine editions : editions of the Greek 
and Latin classical authors prepared 
Hn usum Delphini * (for the use of the 
Dauphin), the Dauphin (eldest son) of 
Louis XIV. 


Delia, A : the land between two mouths 
of a river. After the triangular letter, 
delta, in the Grk. alphabet. Orig. 
applied to the land between the mouths 
of the Nile. 

D^nge, The : the flood in the days of 
Noah. 

Delnge, After ns the : the future does 
not concern us. Translation of *Aprh 
nous le deluge!* a remark made by 
Mme. de Pompadour to Louis XV 
when he was depressed after the defeat 
by Frederick the Great at Rossbach 

(1757)- 

Dendiohn, A : a large bottle with a 
narrow neck. Probably from Dame 
Jeanne (Lady Jane), or from Damaghan 
in Persia, where gl^-ware was made. 

Demi-monde, The [Pr,, half-world, half- 
society) : immoril women and women 
‘ of doubtful reputation * as a class. 
The word was coined by Alexandre 
Dumas, fils. {Fraser*s Magazine, LI, 

57? (1855)] ^ ^ , 

Demi-rep, A : a woman of doubtful 
r^utation. A contraction of demi- 
reputable, half-reputable. 

Democritus, A : a philosopher who 
ridicules the world. After Demo- 
kritos of Abdera (460-357 B.C.), * The 
Laughing Philosopher.' 

Demomitns, To dine with : to be deprived 
of one's dinner. 

Democritus Junior : Robert Burton 
(1577-1640), author of The Anatomy 
of Melancholy (1621). Demokritos was 
a Grk. philosopher, sumamed * the 
Laughing Philosopher' probably on 
account of his advocacy of humour. 

Demoivre, As sure as : very sure indeed. 
After Abraham de Moivre (1667-1754), 
a famous French mathematician, who 
settled in England. The phrase was 
coined by Alexander Pope. 

Demon of Rebellions, The : Henri, Due 
de Bouillon (1555-1623). 

Demos : the people personified. 

Previously, the populace of Athens. 
Orig., the communalty of a Grk. town. 

Demosthenes, A : an eloquent orator. 
After the greatest of Grk. orators 
(384-322 B.C.). 

Demoidhenes of the Pulpit, The : Dr. 
Thomas Rennell (1753-1840), Dean of 
Westminster. So-csdled by William 
Pitt. 

Demy, A : a holder of a scholarship at 
Magdalen College, Oxford. Orig., he 
received half (demi) of a Fellow’s 
allowance. 



Denarius] 113 

Denarius Dei (Lot,, God's ' penny ') ; 
payment made to complete a bargain. 

Denarius Sancti Petri {Lot., St. Peter's 
* penny ') : Peter's pence ; a volun- 
tary tax paid by Catholics to the 
Pope. 

Denim : a coarse fabric. A corruption 
of serge de Ntmes (Ntmes, in France). 

Depth, Out of one’s : speaking on topics 
with which one is not well acquainted. 

A swimming metaphor. [The Spec- 
tator, No. 105 (1711)] 

Derby, The : the principal English horse- 
race ; founded by Edward Smith 
Stanley, Earl of Derby, in 1780. 

Derby dog, A : an incident of little im- 
portance sure to occur at the last 
minute. From the proverbial dog on 
the Derby race-course after it has 
been cleared for the race. 

Dernier cri, Le {Fr., the latest cry) : the 
latest fashionable craze. 

Dernier ressort, Le (Fr., the last resort) : 
orig. the highest tribunal to which an 
appeal could be made ; later, any last 
resort. [Archbp. Williams, Apologie 
for Bishops, 89 (1641)] 

Derrick, A : a contrivance for lifting 
heavy weights. After Derrick, a noted 
English hangman, c. 1600, 

Derring-do, A deed of : a deed of 
desperate courage. ' Derring-do ' is 
properly ' daring to do,' or * daring 
deed.' The modem substantive is 
derived from a misprint in an early 
i6th-cent. edition of Lydgate, 

Derwentwater’s Lights, Lord : the Aurora 
Borealis, which is said to have been 
esp. brilliant on Feb. 24th, 1716, the 
night of the execution of James, Earl 
of Derwentwater. 

Desobligeant, A [Fr., disobliging) : a 
kind of chaise. Disobliging, because 
it holds only one person. 

Desolation, The abomination of: see 
Abomination. 

Despotism tempered by assassination : 
the government of Russia under the 
Czars. So-described after the murder 
of the Emperor Paul in i8oi. 

Destiny, The Man of : Napoleon I. In 
allusion to his belief in Fate. 

Destiny, The shears of : see Shears. 

Destiny, The web of : from the Fates, 
personified as the spinners of the web 
of life. 

Desultory : rambling ; purposeless ; aim- 
less. From Desuitor, a Roman circus- 
rider who used to ride two horses at 
once, leaping from one to the other. 


[Devil 

Deucalion’s Son, A : from the Grk. 
legend of Deucalion, who, after the 
world had been destroyed by a flood, 
at the instance of the Oracle of Themis 
at Delphi, re-peopled the earth from 
stones. 

Deuce, The : an expletive. From 
Germ., das Daus, Possibly con- 
nected with the Celtic, dus, a wood 
demon, and the Latin, Deus, a 
god. 

Deuce (Devil) with . . To play the : to 

create havoc or mischief. [Devil, 
1542 A.D.] 

Deuce-ace ; bad luck ; poverty. After 
a dicing term, meaning a throw of 
two and one. 

Deus ex machina {Lat., God from the 
machine) ; an unexpected benefactor 
who extricates from a difficulty. An 
allusion to the mechanical contrivance 
by which the god was made to appear 
on the Grk. stage. The phrase first 
appeared in Greek. [Lucian, 
Hermotimus, 86] 

Deutschland fiber AUes [Germ., Germany 
above all, i.e., Germany before every- 
thing) : the expression of German 
patriotism. It does not bear the 
meaning ' Germany above all other 
countries ' put upon it by Germany's 
enemies during the World War of 
1914-8. 

Devil, A printer’s : a printer's errand- 
boy. The boys so smeared them- 
selves with ink that they were said to 
be * as black as the Devil.' Printing 
used to be called ' the Black Art.' 
[Moxon, Mechanic Exercises, II 
(1683)] 

Devil and the deep sea. Between the : 

between two desperate alternatives. 
[Monro, Expedition with Mackay*$ 
Regiment, II, 55 (1637)] 

Devil blacker than he is. To paint the : 
to give an offender a worse reputation 
than he deserves. From the proverb, 
‘ The Devil is not half so black as he 
is painted.' 

Devil for . . To : to do subordinate work 
for a lawyer, editor, etc. 

Devil his due. To give the : to allow all 
that can properly be said on behalf of 
an ofiender, [Shiespeare, i Uenry IV, 

I, ii {1596)] 

Devil is blind. When the : t.e., never ; a 
time so remote as not to be worthy of 
consideration. [Simon Wagstaif 
(Jon. Swift), Polite Conversations, Dial. 

I (1738)] 



Devil] 114 

Devil is dead. When the : when evil is 
entirely banished from the world. 
[Coryat, Crudities (1608)] 

Devil loves apple-dnmplings. As the : 
i,e., not at ail. From the practice at 
the University of Oxford early in i8th 
cent, of feeding the students on apple- 
dnmplings on fast-days. 

Devil loves Holy Water, As the : not at 
all. In allusion to the exorcism of 
devils in the Roman Catholic Church 
by means of Holy Water. 

Devil overlooking Lincoln, Like the: 
alluding to a grotesque on Lincoln 
College, Oxford. [J. Heywood, 
JProverbes (1546)] 

Dev^ pull baker, Pull : see Pull. 

Devil rebuking ^ The : an offender 
calling attention to the offence of 
another. 

Devil take the hindmost, The : everyone 
must look after his own interests. 
[Horace, Ars Poetica, 417 ; Sir S. Tuke, 
Adventures of Five Hours, V (1663)] 
Devil, To go to the : to be ruined, 
morally or materially. [Poston 
Letters, No. 512 {1465)] 

Devil, To hold a can^e to the : to assist 
an evil-doer. From the story of an 
old woman who lit a candle before St, 
Michael, and another before the Devil 
he was trampling under foot, and, 
when reproved, replied that as she did 
not know where she would go when 
she died, she wished to be safe in 
either event. 

Devil to pay. The : suggesting a bad 
bargain made, with heavy retribution. 

In allusion to bargains made with 
wizards or with Satan. 

Devil, To raise the : to create trouble ; 
to make a disturbance. [Vanbrugh, 
Confederate, V, ii (1705)] 

Devil, To shame the : to tell the truth. 
[Henry Porter, Two Angry Women of 
Abington, 640-1 (1599)] 

Devil was sick. The : of an insincere 
conversion. From an interpolation by 
tJrquhart and Motteux in their 
translation of Rabelais, Gargantua 
(Bk. IV, ch. xxiv) : 

‘ The Devil was sick. 

The Devil a monk would be ; 

The Devil was well. 

The Devil a monk was he ! ' 

Devil with . . To play the : see Deuce. 
Devff’g advocate, The : the Promotor 
Fidei who is appointed to put forward 
the arguments against the canoni- 
zation of a proposed Saint, Hence 


[Dewitt 

any debater who deliberately puts 
forward a weak case on behalf of his 
cause. 

Devil^s Bedpost, The : the four of clubs ; 
supposed to be an unlucky card. 

Devil’s Bible, The : playing-cards. 

Devil’s Blue : see Blue, 

Devil’s box, A : a dice-box with dice in 
it. [Etherege, Comical Revenge, II, 
iii (1664)] 

Devil’s book ; see Devirs playbooks. 

Devil’s cushion. The : idleness. 

Devil’s daughter’s portion : Deal, Dover, 
and Harwich. On acount of the 
impositions practised on seamen at 
those ports. 

Devil’s dozen, A : thirteen, which is also 
a baker* s dozen (q.vJ). From the 
number of witches supposed to be 
necessary for a witches* Sabbath. 

Devil’s fourposter, A : a hand at whist 
which includes four clubs, and is said 
to be invariably unfortunate. 

Devil’s Island : an island off the coast of 
French Guiana, used as a penal 
settlement. 

Devil’s livery, The : black and yellow. 
Black for death ; yellow for the plague. 

Devil’s luck; Devil’s own luck : astonish- 
ingly good luck, which used to suggest 
a bargain with the Devil. 

Devil’s Mass : promiscuous swearing. 

Devil’s Own, Ke : (i) the 88th Foot ; 
so-called on account of their bravery 
in the Peninsular War ; (2) the Inns 
of Court Volunteer Regt. ; in allusion 
to lawyer’s devils. The title is said to 
have been given to the Temple Com- 
pany of Mffitia by King George III. 
See Devil for... 

Devil's Parliamwit, The : the English 
Parliament of 1459, which was 
notorious for its attainders of Yorkists. 

Devil’s Paternoster, To say ttie : to 
grumble. [Terence in English (1614)] 

Devil’s play-books. The : playing-cards. 
So-called by the early Presbj^erians. 

Devil’s snuffbox : a fungus which., when 
opened, contains dust. 

Devil’s tattoo. To beat the : to keep on 
repeating a monotonous tap or other 
simple sound. 

Devoirs to.. To pay one’s : to pay one’s 
respects to , , esp. socially. Fr., 
devoir, duty. 

Devonshire C’s, The three : the Crocker, 
Cruwys and Copplestone families, very 
ancient families of Devon. 

Dewitt, To : to lynch. From Jan and 
Cornelius de Witt, Dutch statesmen. 



Diamond] 115 

who were murdered by the mob in 
1672. 

Diamond cut diamond : a contest 
between two keen intellects, or prac- 
tised contestants. [Simon Wagstaff, 
Polite Conversation, Dial. Ill (1738)] 

Diamond of the first water, A : a person 
of superlative excellence. Lit., a 
diamond of the finest quality. 

Diamond necklace, The : see Necklace. 

Diamond, A rough : a person of preat 
worth of character, but of unpolished 
manner or uncouth appearance ; like 
a diamond in its rough state. See 
Lord Chesterfield, Letters to His Son 
(1748). 

Diamond State, The : Delaware. 

Diana’s livery, To wear : to remain a 
virgin. After Diana, the chaste 
goddess of the chase. 

Diana’s worshippers : midnight revellers. 
After Diana, the moon. 

Diaspora, The : the Jews living outside 
of Palestine and dispersed throughout 
the world. Grk., diaspore, dispersion. 

Dicers’ oaths. Like : like oaths made to 
be broken, i.e., oaths of gamblers never 
to touch dice again. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, III, iv (1602-3)] 

DidE, To happen in the reign of Queen : 
not to happen at all, for there never 
was a Queen Richard. 

Dick’s hat-band, As cross as : in allusion 
to a character in some forgotten farce. 

' Dick’s hat-band ’ is referred to in 
other sajdngs as fause, fond, tight, 
fine, queer, etc. 

Dick-a-Tuesday : a hobgoblin. 

Dick Talbot’s truths : lies. After the 
habitual l3dng of Richard Talbot, Earl 
of Tyrconnell (1630-91). 

Dickens? What (Who) the: an em- 
phatic form of inquiry. ’ Dickens ’ is 
a corrupt form of Nick (the Devil). 
[Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, 

III, ii, 19 (1600)] 

Dickey, A : a shirt-front ; Germ., 
decken, to cover. 

Dickon of the Broom: Richard I, 
Coeur de Lion. From the broom plant, 
the S3nnbol of his family, the Plan- 
tagenets. 

Dicky Sam : a native of Liverpool. 

Dictator of Letters, The : Voltaire (1694- 
1778), Fr. philosopher and writer. 

Dictionary, A Living : Wilhelm Leibnitz 
(1646-1716). So-c^ed by George I. 

Diddler, A : a mean cheat. After 
Jeremy Diddler, a character in James 
Kenney, Raising the Wind (1803}. 


[Dime-cheap 

Die in one’s boots, To : to die a sudden 
and violent death. [Diet, of Canting 
Crew (1700)] 

Die in the last ditch. To : to hold on in a 
contest until the last resource is ex- 
pended. From the remark made by 
William III when asked whether he 
did not agree that the United Nether- 
lands, of which he was then Stadt- 
holder, was not on the verge of ruin. 
* Nay, there is one certain means by 
which I can be sure never to see my 
country’s ruin. I will die in the last 
ditch ! ’ 

Die is cast. The : the decision is taken. 
Metaphor derived from the dice. From 
the phrase said to have been used by 
Julius Caesar when about to cross the 
Rubicon. 

Die-hard, A : an irrecondleable ; one 
who holds to his principles even though 
left alone in their support. 

Die Hards, The : the 57th (now the West 
Middlesex) Regt. of Foot, whose 
colonel at the Battle of Albuera(i8ii) 
adjured his men, when surrounded, to 
die hard. 

Diego, A Don : a Spaniard. Diego is a 
common name in Spain. 

Dies non, A : a day that is not counted ; 
a non-legal day. Short for dies non 
juridicus, a day on which legal business 
is not transacted. 

Dig, To : see Diggings. 

Big a pit, To : to lay a trap. [Eccles., 
X, 8 ; Ecclesiasticus, xxvii, 26] 

Dig the well at the river. To : to perform 
a futile and needless task. 

Diggings : lodgings. Originated with 
the Galena lead-miners of Wisconsin 
who in winter lived underground in 
dug-outs. 

Dignity, To stand upon one’s : to show 
consciousness of one’s own superiority, 
real or imaginary, in r^ard to others. 

Dike-louper, A : one who breaks the laws 
of morality. A Scotticism : properly, 
a person or animal that leaps over 
fences. 

Dilly, A : a wheeled vehicle. Orig. a 
stage-coach. A contraction of * dili- 
gence.’ 

Dilution of Labour : the employment on 
work, supposed to require special 
training, of untrained labour mingled 
with trained labour. 

Dimanche, Monsieur : a dun. After a 
character in Molifere, Don Juan (1665). 

Dime-dieap : very low in price. The 
American * dime ’ is worth 10 cents. 



ii6 


Bine] 

Bine with the Cross-legged Knights, To : 
to go dinnerless, but spend the dinner 
hour in the Round Church, in which 
are to be seen effigies of cross-legged 
knights. 

Bine with Bemocritus, To : see Demo- 
critus. 

Bine with Buke Humphrey, To : see 
Humphrey. 

Bine with Mohammed, To : to die, and 
dine in Paradise. 

Bine with St. Giles and the Earl of 
Murray, To: to go hungry. The Earl 
of Murray was buried in St. Giles 
Cathedral, Edinburgh, which starving 
people used to frequent. 

Bine with Sir Thomas Gresham, To : not 
to dine, i.e,, to spend the dinner-hour 
in the Royal Exchange, London. 
Founded by Sir Thomas Gresham. 

Diner-out of the first water : Sydney 
Smith, the wit (1769-1845) . So-called 
by The Quarterly Review. A parody 
on ‘ a diamond of the first water.' 
The phrase * A diner-out of the highest 
lustre ' was applied by Sydney Smith 
himself to George Canning. 

Ding-thiift, A: a spendthrift. One who 
dings, or drives away, thrift. 

Bingaan’s Bay : December 16, The 
anniversary of the defeat in 1838 of the 
Zulus under Dingaan by the Boers. 

Dinner-hell, The : a sobriquet of Edmund 
Burke (1729-97), who was accustomed 
to speak at such length in Parliament 
that he encroached on the dinner-hour. 

Diogenes’ cell : see Diogenes and his tub. 

Diogenes and his lantern: Diogenes 
(412-323 B.C.), the Grk. cynic philoso- 
pher is said to have once been found in 
the street with a lighted lantern, and, 
when asked his reason, replied that he 
was seeking an honest man. 

Biogen^ and his tub: Diogenes was 
reputed to have lived a part of his life 
in a tub feeling himself independent 
of the ordinary necessities of civili- 
zation. 

Diogenes of four-legged brutes, The : the 
pig. So-called by Douglas Jerrold. 

Diomedean swop, A : an exchange in 
which one party obtains a pre- 
ponderant advantage. From an ex- 
change of armour between Diomed and 
Glaucus described in Homer, Iliad, VI. 

Biotrephes, A : one who seeks high 
office in church. After a character 
mentioned in John, iii, g-io. 
Diplomacy, Shirt-sleeves : see Shirt- 
sleeves. 


[Dish 

Diplomatic cold, A : a feigned indis- 
position, invented in order to escape 
the necessity of committing oneself to 
a definite course of action or policy. 
First used in 1885 by Timothy Healy 
of the then Lord Hartington and W. E. 
Gladstone. 

DircsBan Swan, The : Pindar (518-442 
B.C.). From the fountain of Dirce in 
the neighbourhood of his birth-place. 

Direct action : a strike or other industrial 
action taken not to secure industrial 
ends, but as a means of interference in 
the general government of the country 
or in its foreign policy. 

Directory, The : the ruling Committee 
in France under the First Republic 
from 1795-1799* Fr., Birecioire. 

Dirleton, To donht with : after Sir John 
Nisbet, of Dirleton, whose Doubts 
(1698) is considered a legal classic in 
Scotland. 

Dirt, To eat : to submit to humiliation. 
From the proverb, * Every man must 
eat a peck of dirt before he dies.' 

Dirt-cheap : exceedingly cheap ; almost 
as cheap as dirt. 

Dirty actioxi, A : a mean action. 
[Sheridan, The Rivals, II, ii (1775)] 

Dirty Half-hundred, The : the 50th Regt. 
of Foot (ist Batt. Royal West Kent 
Regt.), who in the Peninsular War 
wiped their faces with their black 
facings. 

Dirty linen in public, To wash : to discuss 
or disclose scandals in the course of a 
public dispute. The phrase was used 
by Napoleon in a speech to the Legis- 
lative Assembly on his return from 
Elba, and previously by Voltaire in 
an address to the Encyclopaedists. 

Dirty Shirts, The : the loist Foot (ist 
Batt. Munster Fusiliers), who fought 
in their shirt-sleeves at Delhi in 1857. 

Dirty weather : stormy weather at sea. 

Dis<dplesof St. Antling : Puritans. After 
the Church of St. Antling, or Anthony, 
in the City of London, which Puritans 
used to frequent. 

Discount, At a : not in demand, reduced 
in value. 

Discretion, Years of : the age at which 
one is expected to have attained 
responsibility; in English law this 
age is 14. 

Disgruntled (To be) : (to be) sulky, 
grumpy, dissatisfied. [H. Cave, 
History of Popery (1682)] 

Dish a person. To : to circumvent a 
person ; to upset his plans. From the 



Dish] 117 [Do 


cook's point of view the preparation 
of food is completed and disposed of 
when it is dished up. 

Dish fit for the gods, A : a course at a 
meal most attractively prepared. 
[Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, II, i, 

I. 173 (1603)1 

Dish the Whigs, To ; to upset the plans 
of one's opponent by appropriating 
his programme. The phrase was used 
by Edward, 14th Earl of Derby, in 
reference to the Reform Bill of 
1867. 

Dish, To lay in one’s : to charge a person 
with . . ; to accuse a person of . . 
[Phaer, Virgil (1600)] 

Disjecta membra {Lat., scattered re- 
mains) : From Horace, Disjecti 
membra poetae, limbs of a dismembered 
poet. {Satires, I, iv, 62] 

Dismal Science, The : political economy. 
So-called by Thomas Carlyle. 

Diss, To know nothing about : to take 
no interest in matters of slight im- 
portance. From the infrequency of 
the visits of travellers to Diss, in 
Norfolk. 

Distaff side, On the : on the female side 
of a family. The distajff was the 
emblem of feminine industry. 

Distaff-sisters, The: the Fates. 

Distaffs (St. Distaffs) Day : the day 
following the Feast of Epiphany, on 
which women resumed their work. 

Distance, To keep one’s : to take up an 
attitude of reserve, [Lady Alimony, 

II, Vi (1659)] 

Distinction without a difference, A : no 
difference at all. [William Hazlitt, 
First Acquaintance with Poets'] 

Dithyrambic : wild, boisterous. From 
Dithuramhos, a hymn in honour of 
Bacchus. 

Dittany, To strew : to prepare the bridal 
chamber. Dittany is an aromatic 
plant, whose name is derived from 
Mount Dicte in Crete. . 

Ditto to Mr. Burke, To say : to have 
nothing further to add to a previous 
complete statement of your case. The 
speech on the hustings of a fellow- 
candidate of Edmund Burke, after an 
eloquent address by that orator, was : 

* I say ditto to Mr. Burke.' 

Dittoes : coat, waistcoat, and trousers, 
all of the same pattern. Frequently 
used for trousers only. 

Ditty bag ; Ditty box, A : a bag or box 
used by seamen to hold small articles. 
Possibly from * dittis,' the name of a 


material of which they may originally 
have been made. 

Diva Fortune (Lat., the Goddess Fortune) : 
games of chance. 

Dives, A (Lat., rich) : a rich man. From 
the parable of Dives and Lazarus in 
Luke, xvi. 

Divide et impera (Lat, divide and rule) : 
introduce dissensions among your 
opponents, a maxim of Macchiavelli 
(1469-1527), the Italian political 
writer. 

Divine Doctor, The : Jan de Ruysbroeck 
(1293-1381), Flemish mystic. 

Divine lovers : platonic lovers (q..v). 

Divine Pagan, The : Hypatia of Alexan- 
dria (d. 415), woman philosopher. 

Divine plant. The : vervain or Herba 
Sacra. So-called by the Romans, who 
believed it to have almost miraculous 
powers. 

Divine Right of Kings, The : the 

theory that kings are appointed by 
God, and that it is of the nature of 
blasphemy to attempt to frustrate 
their actions. 

Divine Speaker, The ; Tyrtamos (370- 
287 B.C.). So-called by Aristotle. 

Dix-huit Brumaire : the Coup d’Etat of 
November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire in the 
Republican calendar), when Napoleon 
appointed himself First Consul. 

Dixie’s Land : the Southern or Slave 
States of the United States ; the negro 
name for the land that was to them 
their home. The term arose in New 
York early in 19th cent, from a song, 
or popular story, of a kindly disposed 
slave-owner named Dixie whose slaves 
increased so that there was no room 
for them all on his estate. The surplus 
mi^ated, but continued to look on 
their birthplace, * Dixie's Land,' as 
home, their earthly paradise. Another 
derivation is from the Mason and 
Dixon's Line, which separated the 
Slave States from the Free. 

Dixit (Ipse dixit), A (Lat., he [himself] 
has spoken) : a positive statement. 
Also dixi, I have spoken. [Earle, 
Microcosmography : A Scepticke in 
Religion (1628)] 

Dizzy : Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beacons- 
field (1804-81). A corruption of his 
surname. 

Do ut des (Lat., I give that you may give): 
a suggestion of an agreement for 
mutual benefit. A Roman legal 
term, popularized by its use by 
Bismarck. 



Do] ii8 

Do wliat is done, To : to act in a futile 
manner. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Dobb^ A : (i) a faitbiul friend and 
patient lover, after a character in 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair {1847) ; (2) a 
steady old horse suitable for children 
to ride. 

Doctor, A : a seventh son. From the 
belief that he had exceptional powers 
in curing certain diseases. 

Doctor, The : the cook on board ship 
who doctors the food. 

Doctor accounts. To : to falsify or 
manipulate accounts. A suggestion 
that the accounts are ill and require to 
be cured or drugged. 

Doctor Brighton : Brighton, the famous 
watering-place in Sussex, This name 
is said to have been given it on account 
of its salubriousness by George IV, 
who spent much time there. 

Doctor Dodipoll, As wise as : not at all 
wise. See Dodipoll. [The Wisdoms 
of Dr. Body pole (1600)] 

Doctor, The Anthentic : see Authentic. 

Doctor, The Divine : see Divine. 

Doctor Pell : Applied to a man whom one 
dislikes instinctively, without being 
able to give one's reasons for such dis- 
like. After J ohn Fell (1625-86), Dean 
of Christchurch, after he had expelled 
Tom Brown, the satirist, who wrote 
the following lines on him : 

‘ I do not like thee. Doctor Fell, 

The reason why I cannot tell ; 

But this alone I know full well — 

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.' 

Doctor Bluminatus : (i) Raymond Lully 
(1235-1315), Span, scholastic; {2) 
Johannes Tauler {1294-1361), Germ, 
mystic. 

Doctor Jdcyll and Mr. Hyde : see Jekyll. 

Doctor Mirabilis : Roger Bacon (1214- 
92), Eng. scholar and philosopher. 

Doctor My-book : John Abemethy (1765- 
1 830), who used continually to refer Ms 
patients to * my ’ book, Surgical 
Observations. 

Doctor Singulaiis et tnvincibilis : William 
of Occam (d. c. 1349), Eng. Franciscan 
scholar and controversiahst. 

Doctor Syntax : a simple-minded, 
scholarly clergyman. After a 
character in The Tour of Dr. Syntax 
by William Combe (1813). 

Doctors : false dice ; because they are 
doctored (faked). 

Doctor’s Comnions : offices in London 
for the registration and probate of wills. 


[Dog 

grating of marriage-Hcenses, etc, 
Orig, the common buildings of the 
College of Doctors of Law engaged in 
the Ecclesiastical and the Admiralty 
Courts. 

Doctrinaire, A : one who puts, or 
attempts to put, theories into prac- 
tice. After a French political party 
wMch came into existence after 1815, 
considered by their opponents to be 
wedded to doctrines rather than to 
practice. 

Doddy, A : (i) a stupid person ; a con- 
traction of ‘ doddy poll ' ; (2) (Scot.) a 
cow or bull without horns. The 
origin of the word from ‘ dodded,' 
hornless, is in both senses the same. 

Dodger, An artful : see Artful dodger, 

Dodipoll (DoddypoU), A : a stupid person. 
See also Doddy. 

Dodipoll, As wise as Doctor ; see Doctor 
Dodipoll. 

Dodo, As dead as a : the dodo, a large 
bird of the island of Mauritius, wMch 
was specially stupid in appearance, 
has been extinct since 17th cent. 

Doe and Richard Roe, John : imaginary 
personages introduced to illustrate an 
argument. Orig. so-used in legal 
documents. 

Doe-faces : see Dough-faces. 

Dog a bad name, To give a : to condemn 
a person from prejudice. From the 
proverb ' Give a dog a bad name and 
hang him,' 

Dog, A dead : sometMng of no value. 
(1 Samuel, xxiv, 14). 

Dog, A dirty : an objectionable, usually 
lewd, fellow. From the dogs in the 
Near East, which are employed as 
scavengers. ^ 

Dog a person’s footsteps, To : to follow a 
person like a dog. [A Warning for 
Fairs Women, II, 11 . 261-2 (1599)] 

Dog and bones to one’s ass, To give 
straw to one’s : see Straw. 

Dog and shadow. To be like : (of two 
persons) to be inseparable, one to be 
always following the other. 

Dog and wolf. Between : dusk. 

Dog in a doublet, A : a bold, determined 
man. From the practice in Germany 
and Flanders of clothing in doublets 
dogs employed in hunting the wild- 
boar. 

Dog in the Manger, A : one who, unable 
Mmself to use an advantage, prevents 
others from doing so. From the fable 
of the dog that lay in a manger 
and prevented the ox from feeding. 



Dog] 1 19 

[Lyly, Euphues : Anatomy of Wit 

(1579)] 

Dog Latin : see Latin. 

Dog life. To lead a cat-and- : (of people 
who live together) to be always 
quarrelling. 

Dog, Love me, love my : if you love me 
you must love all that pertains to me ; 
do everything for my sake. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Dog, of (jod. The : the bear. So-called 
by the Laplanders. 

Dog over a stile. To help a lame : to 

assist a person in a difficulty. [Hey- 
wood, Pyoverbes (1546) ; Marston, 
Insatiate Countess, II, ii (1605)] 

Dog, The black: melancholy; bad- 
temper. 

Dog to bark, To teach : see Teach. 

Dog, To be top : see Top dog. 

Dog, To be xmder- : see Under-dog. 

Dog, To wake a sleeping: to stir up 
trouble unnecessarily. From the 
proverbial saying, ‘ Let sleeping dogs 
lie.’ 

Dogs as you have bones to pick, To have 
as many ; to have as many children 
as you can support. [J. M. Wilson, 
Tales of the Borders : The Henpecked 
Man (1835)] 

Dog’s death. To die a : to die like a 
dog, no one troubling himself in the 
matter. 

Dog’s life, To lead a : to live a life of 
wretchedness, like a dog which nobody 
wants. [Anth, Brewer, Lingua, II, 
iv (1607)] 

Dogs, The : the 17th Lancers, whose 
crest is a Death's Head and ' Or Glory,' 
vis,, D.O.G. 

Dog’s letter, The : ' R/ whose sound is 
uttered by a dog when snarling. 

Dogs lie. Let sleeping; see Dog, To 
wake a sleeping. 

Dogs of war. The : famine, sword and 
j&e. [Shakespeare, Julius Ccesar, III, 
i {1601)] 

Dogs, To go to the : to go to the bad ; 
to fall to a very low moral or material 
level. In the East the remains of a 
feast are thrown to the dogs. Possibly, 
however, from the Dutch proverb : 

' Toe goe, toe de dogs* * Money gone, 
credit gone.' 

Dogs, To throw to the : to throw away 
as wortMess. [Shakespeare, Macbeth, 

V, iii, 47 (1606)] 

Dog-bolt, A : a term of reproach ; a 
servile follower. [Paston Letters, No. 
533 (1465)] 


[Dolly 

Dog-cart, A : a small two-wheeled cart 
or trap in which sportsmen used to 
convey their dogs to the field. 

Dog-cheap : very cheap. Swed., dog, 
very. [Shakespeare, i Henry IV, 
III, iii (1596-7)] 

Dog days, The: the period about the 
rising of the Dog Star, the hottest of 
the year. It was a popular belief that 
at this time of year more than at any 
other dogs are liable to become mad. 

Dog-eared : (of leaves of a book) turned 
down at the comers. 

Dog-fall : a fall in which both comba- 
tants touch the ground. A wrestling 
term. 

Dog-rose, A : a wild rose. From the 
popular belief that its root was an 
antidote for the bite of a dog. 

Dog-sleep, A : a pretended sleep. From 
the popular belief that dogs sleep with 
one eye open. 

Dog-tired : extremely tired ; as a dog 
^er the chase. 

Dog-whipping Day : October 18, on 
which a dog is once said to have eaten 
the consecrated wafer in York Mmster. 

Dogbe^, A : a stupid, self-important 
official. After a character in Shakes- 
peare, Much Ado About Nothing 

(1599). 

Doggett’s Badge : a prize in a rowing 
match on the Thames awarded annu- 
ally on August I. Instituted by the 
actor, Thomas Doggett, in 1716. 

Doily : a small ornamental napkin ; 
formerly, ‘ doily napkin.' After Doily, 
a London linen-draper in the early 
1 8th cent. 

Doit for . . Not to care a : to place no 
value upon .. A doit was a small 
Scottish coin. 

Dolce far uienie {Hal., sweet do-nothing) : 
pleasant idleness. 

Doldrums, In the : a period of quietude 
and rest or dejection. After the name 
of a region of the ocean near the 
Equator, noted for its calms. 

Dollar, A : a coin of varying value in 
the Amer. States. An abbreviation of 
Joachimsthaler, After Joachimsthal, 
Bohemia, whence the silver from which 
the coin was first minted in 1518 was 
obtained. 

Dollar, The Almig hty : see Almighty. 

Dolly-shop, A : a rag-shop, which 
formerly had a black doll as a sign. 

Dolly Varden, A : a kind of woman’s 
dress or hat. After a character in 
Dickens, Baarnaby Pudge (1840). 



Domesday] [Dotterel 


Domesday Book : an account of the 
division and ownership of the land 
of England, compiled in the reign of 
WiUiam I. 

Dominican, A : a friar of the Order 
founded by Dominic de Guzman (i 170- 
1221) ; a Black Friar, or Preaching 
Friar. 

Dominie Sampson, A : a village school- 
master. After a poor, modest, scholar- 
ly village schoolmaster in Sir W. Scott, 
Gtiy Mannering (1815). 

Dominoes : a game with marked stones, 
invented hy two French monks, the 
victor reciting the first verse of the 
Vesper service : * Dixit Dominns 

Domino meo/ 

Don Diego, A : see Diego. 

Don Juan, A : a libertine. After a semi- 
mythical Spaniard, Don Juan Tenorio, 
who lived in 14th cent., and whose 
career has supplied the basis for 
several plays. 

Don Quixote, A ; a romantic, absurdly 
chivalrous person. After the hero of 
Cervantes, Don Quichotte (1604). 

Donat ; Donet, A : an elementary 
grammar. After w 3 Blius Donatus (fl. 
356), Roman grammarian. 

Donanon of Constantine, The : a forgery, 
attributed to Constantine the Great, 
conveying the donation to the Papacy 
of temporal sovereignty over Rome 
and the neighbouring region. 

Donation of Pepin, The : the basis of 
the temporal claims of the Papacy. 
In 755 Pepin gave the Pope the 
exarchate of Ravenna and the Re- 
public of Rome. 

Done to one’s hand: already done; 
completed. 

Donkey, To ride the black : to be obstin- 
ate (as is a donkey.) 

Donkey between two bundles of hay. To 
be lie the : unable to make up one’s 
mind between two alternatives. From 
the story of the donkey that died of 
starvation while hesitating whether to 
partake of the hay on his right or on 
his left. 

DonnybrookFair ; Donnybrook: a scene 
of disorder and not very serious riot. 
From the proceedings at the annual 
fair held until 1855 at Donnybrook, 
Co. Dublin. 

Doom, The crack of : the end of the 
world ; the signal for the Last 
Judgment, 

Doomsday, To wait till : to wait an 
indefinite time ; to wait for that which 


will never occur. Lit., to wait until 
the Day of Judgment at the end of the 
world. 

Door of . . To lay a charge at the : to 

accuse of . . 

Door of . . To lay at the : to attribute 

to . . 

Door of . » To be left at the : to be left 
to be paid by . . 

Door with an axe. To open a : see Open. 

Doornail, As dead as a : see Dead. 

Dopper, A : (i) early 17th cent., an 
Anabaptist ; (2) a member of the 

Dutch South African Church. Dutch, 
Dipper, Baptist. 

Dora : the initial letters (D.O.R.A.) of 
the Defence Of the Realm Act, the 
Act of Parliament by which the 
liberties of the English people were 
restricted or suspended during the 
period of the European War (1914-18). 

Dorcas Society, A : an association of 
philanthropic women who make 
clothes for the poor. After the 
charitable Dorcas in Acts, ix, 39. 

Dorchester butts, As big as : the butts 
of Dorchester were famous for their 
size. 

Doric Dialect, The : a broad dialect, esp. 
those of the Scottish Lowlands and 
the North of England. After the 
dialect anciently spoken at Doris, in 
Greece. 

Doric Reed, The : pastoral poetry. After 
Doris, a division of ancient Greece, 
and the reed (flute), the musical 
instrument of the pastoral poets. 

Dormouse, As sleepy as a : the dormouse 
has been looked upon in England as 
the example of a heavy sleeper at least 
as far back as the early i6th cent. 

Dosser, A : one who hrequents doss- 
houses (q.v.). 

Doss-house, A : a low-class lodging 
house. Perhaps from Lat., dorsum, 
the back. 

Dosser-headed : silly ; empty-headed, 
Fr., dosser, a pannier. 

Dot the i’s and cross the t’s. To : to be 
meticulously accurate. 

Dotheboys EaU, A : a low-class boarding- 
school at which the boys are badly 
treated. After the school in Dickens, 
Nicholas Nickleby (1838). 

Dotterel, A ; a silly person ; a dupe. 
After the dotterel, a bird, formerly 
believed to be so exceptionily siUy as 
to be easily caught. 

Dotterel, To dor the : to cheat. From 
* dor,’ to outwit, and * dotterel' {q.v,). 



Dotty] 12 1 

Dotty (To be) : (to be) silly. Formerly 
' doat ’ or ‘ dote.' [Dekker and 
Webster, Northward Ho, IV, i (1607)] 

Douay Version, The : the Roman Catholic 
translation of the Bible into English, 
completed at the English College at 
Douay in 1609. 

Doable, A ; a person who exactly or 
nearly exactly resembles another in 
appearance. 

Double Dutch : see Dutch. 

Double entendre (entente) (O.-Fr., double 
meaning) ; a remark capable of two 
interpretations, esp. when one of them 
is suggestive of indelicacy. [D^den, 
Mariage d la Mode, III, i, 36 

(1673)] 

Double-faced : treacherous, deceitful. 
[Thos. Lodge, Rosalind (1590)] 

Double First, A : two First-Class 
Honours certificates at Oxford or 
Caml.ddge University. 

Double-headed Eagle, The : the emblem 
of the German Empire, formed by 
Charlemagne of a combination of the 
German eagle with its head turned to 
the left and the Roman eagle "with 
its head turned to the right. 

Double or quits : the alternative of the 
cancellation of a debt or the doubling 
of its amount. A gambling phrase. 

Double-dealing : dishonourable, deceitful 
proceedings. [Skelton, Dethe Erie 
Northumberland, 174 (1529)] 

Double-dyed traitor, A : a thorough 
traitor. Lit., one who has been twice 
dyed with treason. 

Double-edged : cutting both ways, both 
the user and him against whom the 
argument or instrument is used. 

Douceur, A {Fr., sweetener) : a bribe ; 
a present. [Horace Walpole, Letters, 

IV (1763)] 

Doudon, A : a short, fat woman. 

Doughboy, A : an American private 
soldier. From the shape of the buttons 
on his tunic. 

Dough-faces : Northern politicians 

believed to be easily influenced by 
those of the Southern States ; whose 
faces could be worked upon as if they 
were made of dough. 

Doukhobors, The {Russ,, spirit-fighters) : 

a Russian nonconformist sect. 

Dover and Calais meet. When : i.e., 

never. 

Doverco(ur)t, A : a Babel. Probably 
from the confusion caused by the 
many frequenters of the Church at | 
Dovercourt, Essex, which once j 


[Drago 

possessed a miraculous Cross that 
spoke. 

Dowager Princess Albert of Saxe-Coburg, 

The : the Legitimist designation of 
Queen Victoria. 

Dowlas ; Mr. Dowlas : (i) a kind of 
calico, made in imitation of a linen, 
formerly manufactured at Daoulas in 
Brittany ; (2) a linen-draper, one who 
sells dowlas. 

Down, A bed of : see Bed. 

Down a person. To : to force him down ; 
to defeat him. [Mrs, Piozzi, Anecdotes 
of Dr, Johnson (1786)] 

Down in the dumps : see Dumps. 

Down on . . To be : to be severe upon . . 

Down on one’s luck. To be : to be un- 
lucky. 

Down in the mouth. To be : to be low- 
spirited, dejected. PBp. Hall, Epistles, 
I, 6 (1608)] 

Down tools policy, A : a strike on the 
part of workmen, i,e,, a policy of 
laying down tools. 

Down train, A : a train proceeding away 
from the railway headquarters. See 
Up train and Go up, To. 

Downing Street : the British Government 
of the day. After the street in which 
the Prime Minister of the day resides. 
It was named after Sir George Down- 
ing, M.P. (1624-84), who lived there 
in the reign of Charles II. 

Downright Dunstable : see Dunstable. 

Downy cove (etc.), A : a sharp individual, 
awake to every subterfuge. 

Dozen, To talk nineteen (si^een) to the : 
to talk very quickly ; to gabble ; to 
utter nineteen words in the normal 
time for twelve. 

Dozen, Tliirteen to the : over-full 
measure. [Panegyriche Verses upon 
Coryat and His Crudities (1611)] See 
Baker's dozen. 

Draconic ; Draconian : extremely harsh 
and cruel. After Draco (fl. 624 B.C.), 
an Athenian law-giver who made 
every crime a capital offence. 

Draft on Aldgate Pump, A : a worthless 
cheque or bill-of-exchange. A pun 
on * draft ' (on a bank) and * draft ' 
(a drawing of water). [Fielding, 
Essay 07 i Character of Men (1762)] 

Draggl^tail (Dratchel, Drazel), A : a 
slut ; an untidy woman, whose skirts 
are dragged in the mud. [Nashe, 
Saffron Walden, 143 (1596)] 

Drago doctrine. The : a doctrine enunci- 
ated (1902) by Luis Drago (1859-1921), 
Argentine minister for foreign affairs. 



Bragoman] 122 

that no power had any right to use 
force against another powder in order 
to collect debts due to its nationals. 

Dragoman, A : an interpreter attached 
to embassies in the Near East. Arab., 
Tarjuman, interpreter.- 

Dragon, A blind : a chaperon ; one -who 
plays propriety in the presence of two 
young people of opposite sexes. 

Dragons’ teeth : causes of civil dis- 
sension. From the legend of dragons* 
teeth sown by Cadmus, from which 
irrepressible fighting men sprang to 
life. 

Dragon’s teeth, To sow : to stir up civil 
strife ; to lay the seeds of future 
trouble. Dragons’ teeth. 

Dragonnade, A : a devastating in- 
cursion. From the persecution of 
Fr. Protestants by soldiery under 
Louis XIV, in which dragoons were 
quartered on the sufferers. 

Dragoon, A : a cavalry soldier armed 
with a ‘dragoon’ (musket), so-called 
because, like a dragon, it breathes fixe. 

Dragoon, To : to oppress and ill-treat. 

See Dragonnade. 

Dramatic Unities, The : according to 
Aristotle : one catastrophe, one 

locality, one day. 

Dram-drinking : intemperance ; tippling. 
From ‘ dram,* a small liquid-measure 

Drang naeh Osten {Germ., pressure 
towards the East) : the political 
policy of the German Empire (before 
1918 !) to extend its influence in the 
direction of the East. 

Drat it I : a corruption of the oath ‘ May 
God rot it ! * 

Draw a blank, To : to secure no result 
for one’s efforts. In allusion to 
drawing a blank in a lottery. 

Draw a person, To : to obtain infonna- 
ation from a person who is unaware 
that he is fumis^ng it. 

Draw a person out, To : to entice a 
person to show that of which he is 
best capable. 

Draw a waggon. To take a hair to : see 

Take, 

Draw it mOd, To : to request another to 
be moderate. Orig. in reference to a 
barmaid’s drawing mild, as opposed 
to strong, beer. 

Draw the ]l^g’s Picture, To : to coin 
false money. 

Draw the line at, . . To : not to go beyond 
an imaginary line in matters mental 
and spiritual as well as material. 

Draw the long bow. To : see Bow. 


gripping 

Draw the teeth of . . To : to deprive of 
the opportunity of doing mischief. 

Draw water with a sieve, To : to act in a 
futile manner. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Drawcansir, A : a blustering bully. After 
a character in George Villiers, Duke of 
Buckingham, The Rehearsal (1672). 

Drawn battle, A : a contest in which 
neither party has the advantage. 
Possibly the ori^nal form was ‘ with- 
drawn battle,’ indicating the with- 
drawal of both armies. 

Dreadnought, A : a man-of-war of very 
great power, after the name of the 
first of the class. 

Dreamer, The Immortal : John Bunyan 
(1628-88), author of The Pilgrim* s 
Progress (1678). 

Dred Scott Decision, The : the decision of 
the Federal Court of the United States 
(1856) that a slave had no rights as a 
person but was a property, and as such 
to be protected by the State. After 
Dred Scott, a slave around whom the 
litigation centred. 

Dree one’s weird, To : to suffer one’s 
fate. 

Dreikaiser Bund, The {Germ., three 
Emperors’ alliance) : an informal 
alliance between the Emperors of 
Germany, Austria and Russia between 
1872 and 1879. 

Dresden shepherdess, A : a girl dainty 
in dress and appearance. From the 
style of the shepherdesses in Dresden 
china. 

Dressed up to the knocker : dressed in 
the height of fashion. In allusion to 
the time when door-knockers were 
affixed as high as possible on doors so 
as to prevent them from being 
wrenched off and stolen (a common 
practice). 

Drink like a fish. To : to drink much ; 
to be addicted to intemperance. 
[Gray, Letters, LX, (1747)] 

Drink at Freeman’s Quay, To : to enjoy 
a free drink. At one time carmen, 
etc., who called at Freeman’s Quay, nr. 
London Bridge, were entertained with 
free drinks. 

Drink in one’s own glass, To : to follow 
one’s own bent. 

Drink up the sea, To : to attempt the 
impossible. [Naevius, Fragmenta, 
verse 52] 

Drinks on a person. To have the : to 
have the advantage of a person. 

Dripping Pan, The Queen of : see Queen. 



Drive] 123 

Drive a ooacli-and-foiir (-sis) through . . 

To ; to find ready means of evading a 
(law or regulation). Daniel O'Connell 
(1775-1847), the Irish orator and 
agitator, boasted : ' I can drive a 
coach-and-six through any Act of 
Parliament,' in allusion to the loose 
manner in which parliamentary bills 
were drafted. Earlier, Sir Stephen 
Rice (1637-1715), Irish judge, had 
boasted, before he was raised to the 
bench, that he would * drive a coach 
and six horses through the (Irish) Act 
of Settlement.' 

Drive a hard bargain. To : to exact more 
than the value. [Sam. Butler, 
Characters : A Traveller (1670)] 

Drive pigs to market. To : to snore, like 
the grunting of a pig. 

Drive too many omnibuses through 
Temple Bar, To : to attempt too many 
undertakings simultaneously. 

Droit d’Aubaine : the right of the French 
king (abolished in 1819) to all the 
movable property of aliens dying in 
his kingdom. 

Dromios, The Two : two (brothers) very 
much alike in appearance. After the 
characters in Shakespeare, Comedy of 
Errors (1589). 

Drone among the bees, A : an idler 
among the active. [Poston Letters, 
No. 1004 (1465)] 

Drop an acquaintance. To : to cease to 
acknowledge an acquaintance. [In 
early i8th cent.] 

Drop o’ the Ckatur, A : see Cratur. 

Drop in the ocean, A : that which bears 
an insignificant proportion to its 
surroun<hngs. 

Drop too much. To take a : to drink 
more than is good for one ; to become 
drunk. 

Drown the miller. To : to pour an ex- 
cessive amount of water into tea, etc. 

A suggestion that the excess is so 
great as to drown the miller who uses 
the water-wheel. 

Drug in the market, A : a commodity 
that is unsaleable or saleable only with 
difficulty; a superfluity, not desired 
by anybody. The use of * drug ' in 
this sense probably arose out of a play 
on words in 17th cent. Its origin^ 
meaning is an ingredient used in 
chemistry, pharmacy, etc. ; it is also 
derived from Fr., drogue, rubbish. 

Drum, A : an evening party. Either 
(i) from the noise made by the 
card-players, or (2) a corruption of 


[Drunk 

‘ drawing-room . * [ 1 8th and early 1 9th 
cents.] 

Drum Ecclesiastic, The : the cushion of 
the pulpit on which some preachers 
are accustomed to thump. [Butler, 
Hudibras, Pt. I, canto i, 1 . ii (1663)] 

Drum’s entertainment, John (Tom) : ill- 
treatment; possibly derived from a 
forgotten story or incident. There 
was a short early 17th cent, play 
entitled Jacke Drum*s Entertainment, 
Or the expulsion of an unwelcome 
guest who is, as it were, drummed 
out of the Army. 

Brum-sticks : cooked legs of a chicken. 
On account of their resemblance to 
drum-sticks proper. [Foote, Mayor 
of Garrat, I (1763)] 

Drumhead Court Martial, A : a summary 
military trial. Held in the open 
field, with a drum as a table. 

Drummer, A : a commercial traveller, 
whose function it is to drum up 
customers as if they were recruits. 
An American term. 

Drunk as a cobbler, As : exceedingly 
drunk. From as early as 15th cent, 
in England cobblers were proverbial 
for drunkenness. 

Drunk as a fiddler, As : very drunk. 
The intemperance of professional 
fiddlers at evening parties was pro- 
verbial. [The Puritan (1609)] 

Drunk as a lor^ As : very drunk. 
Alluding to the intemperance of many 
members of the Upper Classes until 
the beginning of 19th cent. [Middle- 
ton and Rowley (1623)] 

Drunk as a Pope, As : very drunk. In 
allusion to the reputation for drinking 
acquired by Pope Benedict XII (d. 
1342). 

Drunk as Chloe, As : very drunk. In 
allusion to the cobbler's wife of Linden 
Grove, to whom the poet Prior was 
attached, and who was notorious for 
her intemperance. 

Drunk as David’s sow. As : from the wife 
of one David Lloyd of Hereford, 
whose wife was found drunk in his 
pig-stye, when his friends came to 
view a freak sow that he owned. 
This explanation cannot be traced 
earlier than 1711 [British Apollo, I, 
527] although the phrase appears in 
Ray, English Proverbs (1670). 

Drunk as the Devil, As : impudently 
drunk. [14th cent.] 

Drunk as a tinker at Banbury, As : see 
Banbury. 



Drunkard’s] 124 

Drunkard’s Gloak> A : a contrivance like 
a large wooden crinoline, placed on a 
drunkard's shoulders in order to 
restore him to sobriety. 

Drunken Deddington: unconscious 
through drink. A play on the word 
‘ dead.' 

Drunken Parliament, The i see Parlia- 
ment. 

Drunkenness, The seven de^ees of : 
ape-drunk, because the subject leaps 
and sings ; lion-drunk, because he is 
quarrelsome ; swine-drunk, because 
he is sleepy ; sheep-drunk, because he 
is conceited but speechless ; martin- 
drunk, because he has drunk himself 
sober again; goat-drunk, because he 
is lascivious; fox-drunk, because he 
is crafty. 

Dry as a hone, As: [Taylor, Western 
Voyage to the Mount, 7 (1649)] 

Dry goods : merchandise consisting of 
hosiery, textile fabrics, etc. Orig. an 
American term. 

Dry lodgings : sleeping accommodation 
without food. 

Dry-as-dust, A : a pedant and antiquary. 
After Dr. Dryasdust in Sir W. Scott's 
Prefaces. The word as a common 
noun was popularized by Carlyle. 
[Wit Revived, or a Neva and Excellent 
Way of Divertisement, by Asdryasdust 
Tossofacan (1674)] 

Dub up, To : to pay. From the practice 
of dubbing (touching a man on the 
shoulder) when about to arrest him 
for debt. 

Dubbed a Knight To be : said of one who 
has drunk deeply to his mistress in a 
kneeling posture. 

Duoat, A : a European coin, no longer 
current. First struck by Roger II, 
Duke of Apulia. The name is derived 
from the legend (‘Sit tibi, Christe, 
datus, quern tu regis, iste ducatus') 
which appeared on the first ducats. 
Duchess of Devonshire fSashion, In 
the : in the style of dress of the I 
Duchess of Devonshire in Gains- 
borough’s famous portrait of her. 

Duchess, A regular old : a middle-aged 
or elderly woman of extremely digni- 
fied appearance. 

Duchy, The : (r) the Duchy of Cornwall, 
belonging to the Prince of Wales; 

(2) of Lancaster, pertaining to the 
British Crown. 

Duck, A lame : a disabled person, esp. 
one who cannot meet Ids financial 
obligations. Orig. a Stock Exchange 


[Duloinea 

colloquialism. [Horace Walpole, 
Letters to Sir Horace Mann (1761)] 

Duck in a thunderstorm. Like a dying : 
very * down-in-the-mouth,' or lacka- 

Duckling,* An ugly: the unpromising 
child in a family who ultimately sur- 
passes the others. From one of Hans 
Andersen's fairy-tales of that title. 

Duck’s egg, A : a score of naught. 
From the resemblance of the symbol 
O to a duck's egg. 

Ducks and drakes with. To play : to 
squander ; to scatter carelessly. From 
the game of duck and drake, which 
consists of so casting a pebble along the 
surface of water that it keeps on 
dipping into and then rising out of 
the water. The phrase was used in the 
figurative sense as early as 1600. 
[Shakespeare, Tinion of Athens, V, v, 
(1607-8)] 

Dud, A : a shell that fails to burst, or any 
expected excitement which fails to 
mature. 

Dudman and Bamhead meet, When : 
i.e., never. Dudman and Ramhead 
are capes on the Cornish coast. 

Dug-out, A : an underground refuge 
from shells or bombs ; a retired 
military officer recalled on the occasion 
of war to active service. 

Duke of Exeter’s Daughter, The : an 
instrument of torture said to have been 
introduced by Duke of Exeter in 1447. 

Duke, The Great : the Duke of Welling- 
ton (1769-1852). 

Duke Humphrey : see Humphrey. 

Duke’s Walk, To meet a person in the : 
to fight a duel. From a promenade 
frequented by the Duke of York (after- 
wards James II) in the neighbourhood 
of Holyrood Palace, where duels were 
frequently fought. 

Dukeries, The : a part of Nottingham- 
shire in which are to be found seats of 
several dukes. 

Dulcamon, A {Arab,, two-homed) : a 
dilemma; a person in a dilemma. 
[Chaucer, Troilus and Cressida, Bk. 
Ill, 11. 930-1 (14th cent.)] 

Dulcamon, To send a person to : to 
puzzle him. See Dulcamon. 

Duloe Domum (Lot., ['tis] sweet ^ [to 
return] home) : from a school breaking- 
up song, said to have originated at 
winchester School. 

Duldnea, A : a sweetheart. After 
Don Quixote's mistress, Dulcinea del 
Toboso. 



Dull] 125 

Dull as ditchwater. As : exceedingly dull. 
From the stagnancy of water in 
ditches. 

Dumb as a fish. As : silent. [Dekker, 
The Seuen Deadly Sinnes : Sloth 
(1606)] 

Dumb as a stone. As : [Ctirsor Muridi 
(1340) ; Chaucer, House of Fame, II, 
148 (14th cent.)] 

Dumb-waiter, A : an article of dining- 
room furniture on which dishes, plates, 
etc., are placed, which in a sense 
serves the purposes of a waiter. 

Dum-dum buUet, A : a soft-nosed bullet. 
After Dum-dum, near Calcutta, India, 
where they were originally made. 

Dump, To ; Dumping : lit., to cast down 
in a disordered heap. Dumping is the 
exportation to a foreign country of 
goods in large quantities at prices less 
than they can be sold at by the foreign 
manufacturers, generally for Ihe 
purpose of destro3dng the foreign 
industry. 

Dumps. To be (down) in the : to be 
depressed, dejected. ‘ Dump * was 
formerly a term for a melancholy 
strain in music. [Nich. Grimald, The 
Garden 1. 22 (i557)] 

Dun a person. To : to press a person for 
payment of a debt. After J oe Duim, 
a famous bailiff in the reign of Henry 
VII. [Bacon, Apoi>hth.Xi6a6)'] 

Dun out of the mire. To draw : to help 
a person out of a difficulty. In 
allusion to a medieval English game in 
which * Dun ' apparently represented 
a dun-coloured horse. [Chaucer, 
Prologue to Mauneiple*s Tale (14th 
cent.)] 

Dunce, A : an ignorant person ; a 
dullard. Orig. a nickname given by 
the followers of Thomas Aquinas to 
the disciples of Johannes Duns Scotus 
(c. 1265-1308), the leader of the school- 
men. 

Dunce-comb, A : an ignoramus. Ap- 
parently invented by John Taylor, 
the Water Poet (1630). 

Dundrearies : a style of wearing the 
whiskers. After Lord Dundreary, a 
character in Tom Taylor, Our Ameri- 
can Cousin (1858), as played by 
Edw. Askew Sothem. 

Dundreary, A Lord : a fop : see Dun- 
drearies. Caricaturing an English 
nobleman. 

Dunedin : Edinburgh (in poetry). 

Dung]^ To sprinkle incense on a : see 
Sprinkle. 


[Dutch 

Dunkers, The : a sect of Gennan-Ameri- 
can Baptists. Germ., iunhen, to dip. 

Dunmow bacon. To eat : to live togethei 
in conjugal amity. See Dunmow 
flitch. The. 

Dunmow Elitch, The : a flitch of bacon 
awarded annually to a married couple 
that had had no dispute during the 
preceding year. The custom was 
instituted at Great Dunmow, Essex, 
by Robert Fitzwalter in 1244. 

Dunstable, As plain as the road to : see 
Dunstable, Downright. [He3rwood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Dunstable, Downright (Straight) : 
straightJorward. The Roman road from 
London to Dunstable is proverbial for 
its flatness and straightness. [Ray, 
Proverbs (1670) ; Fuller, Worthies 
(1662). 

Durance vile. In : under dose restraint. 
[W. Kenrick, Falstaffs Wedding 
(1766)] 

Duresley, A man of : a liar and swindler. 
After Dursley in Gloucestershire. 

Durham mustard. As peppery as : the 
dty of Durham was formerly famous 
for its mustard. 

Dust beneath one’s feet, As : of no 
account. 

Dust, To Mte the : (i) to be knocked over 
and fall to the ground ; (2) to humble 
oneself; (3) to die. [Homer, Iliads 
Bk. II, 11. 416-8 ; Ovid, Metamor- 
phoses, Bk. IX, 11. 59-61] 

Dust in the eyes of .. To throw: to 
mislead ; to confuse. From the 
Mohammedan practice of throwing 
dust in the air in order to mislead or 

* confound ' their enemies. [Aulus 
Gellius, Tragi-Comedy of Calisto and 
Melibaea, 11. 484-7 (1519)] 

Dust a person’s jacket, To : to thrash 
him. [Early 17th cent.] 

Dust off one’s feet, To shake the : to 
leave, with a feeling of contempt. 
[Acts, xiii, 51] 

Dust, To write in : to make but a tempo- 
rary record, soon to be obliterated. 
[Sir Hy. Wotton, Elegy of a Woman* s 
Heart (1602)] 

Dutch Auction, A : a method of sale 
whereby the price of an artide is 
successively reduced until a purchaser 
is forthcoming. 

Dutch T^argajn, A : (i) a. one-sided 

bargain. From the couplet: — 

* In matters of commerce the fault of 

the Dutch 

Is giving too little and asking too much.' 



126 


Dutch] 

(a) a baxgain concluded by the parties 
daluking together. 

Dutch Comfort : comfort derived from 
the knowledge that affairs might be 
worse than they are. 

Dutch Concert^ A : a great commotion 
and uproar, such as that made by a 
company of intoxicated Dut chm e n . 

Dutch Courage : physical courage in- 
duced by intoxication. From a prac- 
tice said to have been employed by 
the Dutch in the course of their wars 
with the English in the reign o± 
Charles II. 

Dutch Defence, A : a pretended defence. 

Dutch, Double : gibberish; unintelligible 
language. ‘ Dutch ' was at one time 
taken to mean * foreign.' * Double 
Dutch' is therefore ‘excessively 
foreign.' [Marlowe, FausPus, 
(1604)] 

Dutch Feast, A : an entertainment at 
which the host gets drunk first. 

Dutch Gleek : drinking. Gleek is an old 
game. The sngge^on is that the 
mvouiite game of the Dutch is 
drinking. 

Dutch Nightingales: frogs. 

Dutch, To beat the : to make a statement 
apparently incredible. Introduced in 
the course of the wairs with the Dutch, 
when they gained a bad reputation in 
England. 

Dutch Treat, A : hospitality in which 
each participant pays his own ex- 
penses. 

Dutch XTnde, To talk like a-: to reprove 
sharply. The Dutch were reputed to 
exercise severe discipline. An unde 
has always been considered an unsatis- 
factory substitute for a father. 

Dynamite Saturday : Jan. 24, 1885. On 
this day the Fenians attempted to 
blow up the Houses of Parliament and 
the Tower of London. 


E pur si muove [ltd,, and yet it mov^} : 
the remark attributed to Galileo 
GaJiled (1564-1642), the Ital. astrono- 
mer, said to have been made im- 
mediately after his recantation of the 
teaching that the earth moved round 
the sun, a doctrine which was deemed 
hereticd. 

Eagle of Brittany, The: Bertrand du 
Guexlin (1320^0), Constable of 
France. 

Eagle of Divines, The : Thomas Aquinas 
(1227-74), ItaJ. Scholastic theologian. 


[Ear-rent 

Eagle of Means, The : Jacques Bdnigne 
le Bossuet (1627-1704), Bp. of Meaux, 
orator and writer. 

Eagle of the Doctors of France, The : 

Pierre d'Ailly (I35<^i425)» astrologer. 

Eagle, The Theban; Pindar (518-442 
B.C.), who was partly educated at 
Thebes. 

Eagles in one’s eyes, To have : to be very 
keen-sighted. [Peter Pindar, Sir 
Joseph Banks and the Emperor of 
Morocco (c. 1794)] 

Ear, To give : to listen. [That Few 
Wofdes Shew Wisdome, 11. 3-4 (1557)] 

Ear and out at the other. In at one : of a 
thing heard yet making no impression 
on the mind or memory. [Romaunt of 
the Rose (c. 1400) ; Chaucer, Troilus 
and Cressida, Bk. IV, 11. 432-4 

(1369)] 

Bar, To turn a deaf : to refuse to listen ; 
to ignore. [Publilius Syrus, 123] 

Ear, To win a person’s: to gain his 
favourable consideration. 

Ears of . . To tickle the : to flatter. 

Ears, To be all : to be closely attentive. 

[Milton, Comus, 1. 574 (1634)] 

Ears, To go (fall) together by the : to 
fight with fists and nails. [Rob. 
Amim, A Nest of Ninnies (1608)] 

Ears, To have long : to be inquisitive, 
pjlly, Compaspe, III, iv (1504)] 

Ears, To hear a thing both sides of the : 
to be spoken to insistently. [Foote, 
The Author, II, i (i757)] 

Ears, To hold by the : to have securely. 

In allusion to dogs fighting. 

Ears, To listen with all one’s : to listen 
most intently. 

Ears, To prick up one’s : to give sudden 
and intense ateention ; like a startled 
horse. [Virgil, Mneid, I, 11. 151--2 ; 
Chapman, All Fools, III, i (1605) ; 
Shakespeare, The Tempest, IV, i 
(1609-10)] 

Ea^ To set by the : to create discord 
between people. In allusion to a dog- 
fight, [Anth. Brewer, Lingua, IV, i 
{1607)] 

Ears in . . Up to the : overwhelmed.by . . 
Lit., immersed up to the ears. [Shakes- 
peare, Merry Wives of Windsor 

(1598-9)] 

E^mazk, To : to mark as a means of 
identification; to set aside for a 
d^biite purpose. From the practice 
of marking a sheep on the ear to show 
its ownership. 

Ear-rent : (i) the call on the patience of 
a person who has to listen to a tedious 



127 


Ear-shot] 

discourse; (2) loss of ears in the 
pillory. 

Ear-shot : the distance the voice will 
carry. [Beaumont and Fletcher, 
Woman Hater, I, hi (1607)] 

Earl of Alarms 0rey Bre^s : the 21st 
Regt. of Foot (Royal Scots Fusiliers). 
On account of the colour of their 
breeches when under the command of 
the Eaxl of Mar (1678-86). 

Early bird, An : an early riser ; the first 
in the field. From the proverb : * *Tis 
the early bird that catches the worm.* 

Earnest money (penny) : money, orig. a 
penny, paid to seal a contract, to show 
one’s good faith. 

Earthly Paradise, An : a place of delight. 
The title of a collection of poems 
(1868-71) by William Morris. The 
term had been used previously in 1844 
by A. W. Kinglake in reference to 
Damascus. {Eothen, ch. xxvh] 

East Indies and be drowned in the Thames, 
To come safe from the : to survive 
many difficulties only to succumb 
when on the point of completing one’s 
journey. 

Easily as a fox eats fruit. As : very easily. 
[Plautus, Mostellaria, 1. 559] 

East Indies for Kentish pippins. To send 
to the : to take on a long journey when 
a short one would serve the purpose 
equally well. 

East, The Far : the extreme eastern 
re^ons of the world, ix., Japan, 
CMna, etc. 

East, The Middle : India, Persia, and 
their neighbouring countries. 

East, The Near : the former Western 
dominions of the Turkish Empire. 

Easterlings : the German Hanseatic 
traders in England. 

Eastern Empire, The : the Greek or the 
Byzantine Empire; the eastern half 
of the Empire when it was divided 
into two in 364. The Eastern Empire 
comprised, at its greatest period, 
South-Eastern Europe, Western Asia, 
Northern Africa, part of Italy and the 
Eastern islands. The Eastern Empire 
came to an end with the capture of 
Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. 

Eastern Question, The : the problems of 
international politics that centred 
around the Turkish Empire before 

1919. 

Eastern States, The : Maine, New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island and Connecticut, the New 
England States of the American Union. 


[Echo 

Easy Street, In : in easy circumstances. 

Easy, To take things : not to permit one- 
self to be worried. 

Eat a person out of house and home. To : 

to live at the expense of another so 
as to endanger his resources. [Poston 
Letters, No. 607 (1469) ; Shakespeare, 
2 Henry IV, II, i, 80 (1597-8)] 

Eat one’s cake and have it too. To : see 
Cake. 

Eat dirt. To : see Dirt, To eat. 

Eat its head off, To : (of an animal) to 
cost more to keep than it produces. 
[The Country Farmer's Catechism 

(1703)] 

Eat one’s heart out. To : to sufier from 
silent annoyance or vexation which it 
is beyond one’s power to remove. 
[Homer, Iliad, Bk. VI, 11. 200-2 ; 
Lyly, Anatomy of Wit : Eu-phues and 
His Ephoebus (1579) ; Spenser, Proso- 
popoia, 11. 903-4 (1591)] 

Eat one’s terms. To : to go through the 
prescribed course for the English bar- 
examinations. The course includes 
the eating of a certain number of 
dinners during certain terms in haU. 

Eat one’s words. To : to withdraw one’s 
words; to retract. [Lyly, Euphues 
and His England (1580)} 

Eat the leek. To : to submit to humilia- 
tion. From the incident narrated 
in Shakespeare, Henry V, V, i, 10 

(1599)* 

Eat the mad cow. To : to be reduced to 
extremities, so as to eat even a cow 
that has died of madness. From the 
French. 

Eatanswill : a corrupt parliamentary 
constituency. After a borough in 
Dickens, Pickwick Papers (1836) at 
which an election is held. 

Eavesdropper, An: one who listens 
secretly. Lit., one who hides under 
the eaves of a house in order to listen. 

Ebb, To be at an : to be in difficulties. 
[Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Ebony, An ; A son of Ebony : a negro. 
On account of his complexion. 
Thomas Fuller (1608-61) used the ex- 
expression, ‘ God’s image done in 
ebony.* 

Ecce Homo I (Lat, Behold the Man ! ) ; 
a picture of Christ as presented to the 
people by Pilate. From the words of 
Pilate : * Behold the man ! * [John, 
xix, 5] 

Echo answers the voice, As the: as 
effect follows cause. From a Japanese 
proverb. 



Eohol [Egyptian 


Echo, To applaud to the : to applaud so 
loudly as almost to call forth an echo. 
[Shakespeare, Macbeth, V, iii, 53 
(1606)] 

E(^o a person’s opinion^ To : to share or 
imitate a person's opinions. 

EoTio verses i verses in which each line 
repeats the final syllables of the 
preceding one without destro3dng the 
sense. 

Eckhardt, A faithful: a very faithful 
man. After a character in a Germ, 
legend. 

Ecstatic Doctor, The : the Divine 
Doctor {q,v.). 

Eden, An : a place of delightful scenery. 
Aiter the Garden of Adam and Eve. 
[Genesis, ii, etc.] 

Eden of Germany, The: Baden. On 
account of its splendid scenery. 

Edge of one’s appetite, The : the first 
keenness of one's appetite. 

Edge off. To take : to deprive of zest. 

Edge, To set one’s teeth on : to grate 
upon one. [Esekiel, xviii, 2] 

Edge upon. To set an : to sharpen, 
intensify. [Lyly, Euphues and His 
England (1580)] 

Edge upon, Not to put too fine an : not 
to conceal anything or subdue one's 
ardour ; to speak plainly. 

Edged tools. To play with : to amuse 
oneself with, or to employ, something 
that may cause one serious harm. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk. II ; 
True Tragedy of Richard III (1594)] 

Edinburgh of Arnica, The : Albany, 
New York. On account of its mag- 
nificent buildings and situation. 

Edwin and An gfllina : a pair of lovers. 
It forms the title of a bgdlad by Oliver 
Goldsmith (1764). 

Eel, An : a New-Englander. 

Eei« A salt : a rope's end. An eel's skin 
was formerly used as a lash. 

Eel by the tail. To hold an : to have a 
precarious hold over .. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546) ; Hy. Porter, Two 
Angry Womett of Ahington, 11 . 2410-2 
(1599) ; Terence in English {1614)] 

Eel by the tail. To an : to go the 
wrong way about a business. 

Eel of sdence by the tail. To hold the : to 

have an elementary knowledge of a 
subject which is quickly lost. 

Eel, To get used to it like a skinned : to 
get inured to trouble or hardship. 
[Peter Hndar, Ode to Townsend (1792)] 

Eel-skins, A merchant of : a rag and bone 
collector. [Heywood, Proverbes (15^2)] 


Egalite, Philippe: Philippe, Duke of 
Orleans (1747-93), who assumed the 
name on his adhesion to the French 
Revolution. 

Egeria, An : a source of inspired wisdom. 
Aiter Egeria, the Roman nymph who 
is said to have instructed Numa 
Pompilius, the second king of Rome. 

Egg, A bad : a person or project that 
results in disappointment ; one who is 
commercially or morally liable to sus- 
picion. After Thomas Egg, an Ameri- 
can, who, having committ^ crime, was 
known by his neighbours as Bad Egg. 

Egg, A Nuremberg: a watch. From 
their invention at Nuremberg, about 
1500. They were orig. egg-shaped. 

Egg dance. An : a task of extreme diffi- 
culty. Properly, a dance blindfold 
with eggs scattered around. 

Egg Feait (Saturday) : the Saturday 
before Shrove Tuesday, when the 
students of Oxford are provided with 
Pasch eggs. 

Eggs, As Uke as two : exactly alike. 
[Seneca, Apocolocymtosis, -ch. ii ; 
Shakespeare, W interns Tale, I, ii 
(1611)] 

Eggs for money. To take : to be imposed 
upon ; to be bullied into taking some- 
thing worthless at a relatively high 
price. [Shakespeare, Winter* s Tale, 
I, ii, 161 (1611)] 

Egg in a person’s pocket, To break the : 
to spoil his plan. 

Egg, In the : in embryo ; in the earliest 

Egg Saturday : see Egg Feast. 

Eggs in one ha&et, To pnt all one’s : to 
risk all on one venture. [Cervantes, 
Don Quixote, ch. ix (1605)] 

Eggs is eggs. As sure as: absolutely sure. 
Perhaps a corruption of the logician's 
formula i x is x. 

Eggs on the spit. To have: to have 
business in hwd. 

Eggs, To teach one’s grandmother to 
suck : to attempt to instruct one who 
is better informed than oneself. 

Eggs, To tread upon : to walk cautiously, 
as if eggs were on the ground. 

Egg-teot, An : a quiet trot, as if one were 
carrying eggs. 

Eglantine, As sweet as : eglantine is the 
sweet-briar. 

Egyptian, An : a gypsy ; a pseudo- 
gypsy. Formerly supposed to have 
come from Egypt. 

Egyptian bondage : harsh bondage; like 
that of the Israelites in Egypt, 



Egyptian] tag [ ttmathi an 


Egyptian dadmess : intense darkness. 
In allusion to Exodus, x, 22. 

Egyptian DaySt The : the lairt Monday in 
April, the second Monday in August, 
the third Monday in December. 
Specially indicated by Egyptian 
astrologers. 

EffTPtian disposition. An : a tendency to 
^eve. ' Egypti^ ' as a synonym 
for gypsy. 

Egyptian sblomon. The : Hameses 111 
(fl. 1219 B.C.]. 

Egyptians, To spoil the : to profit at the 
expense of others, esp. enemies. 
[Exodus, xii, 36] 

Ei^th Wonder, The : see Wonder. 

tottaw Baidlike : a work written by a 
royal personage. It is the title of a 
devotional work, attributed to Qiarles 
I, but probably written by John 
Gauden, Bp. of Worcester (1605-62). 

El Dorado [Span., the golden region] : a 
land of wealth and plenty. Orig. a 
fabulous region in South America rich 
in precious metals and gems. 

Elbow, A knight of the : a gambler. 

Elbows, Ont at : shabby. [Earle, 
Microcosmography: A Prison (1628)] 

Elbow-grease : energy employed in 
rubbing or cleaning; any kind of 
energy. [Andrew Mstrv^, Rehearsal 
Transposed, I (1672)] 

Elder, To be orown^ with : to be dis- 
grsLced. From the legend that Judas 
hanged himself on an elder-tree. 

Eldest Daughter of the Ohnreh, The : 
Fiance. 

Eleotor, The Great : Frederick William, 
Elector of Brandenburg (1620-88). 

Elegant Extracts, The : the 2nd Shrop- 
shire Light Infantry, formerly the 
83th Regt. of Foot. From an incident 
in 1812 when the entire staff of officers 
was changed, the new ones being 
sheeted from other regiments. Elegant 
Extracts is the title of a coUection of 
* beauties * of Eng. literature that had 
a wide and enduring vogue. 

ELement^ Ih one’s : at one’s ease ; com- 
fortable in one’s surroundings. [Jos. 
Hall, Characters, Bk. I (1608)] 

Elements, The four : eax^, water, air, 
fire, according to ancient and medieval 
philosophy. 

Elephant, To change a fly into an : see 
Change. 

THapitAut, A white : see White. 

TR;!)pTittinTATi Mysteries: the Mysteries of 
Demeter, which were celebrated at 
Eleusis in Attica. 


Eleventh horn. At the : at the latest 
possible moment. [Matthew, xx, i] 

El&looks : tangled hair. Orig. it was 
suppos^ that they were entangled by 
elves, and that the straightening of 
them would cause misfortune. 

Elgin The : the Grk. sculptures 

from the Parthenon brought to 
England by the Earl of Elgin in 1801-3. 
They comprise the finest extant 
examples of sculpture. 

Eliiah’a Mantle : succession to office. 
From the mantle cast by Elijah ovot 
E lisha in order to designate him as his 
successor as prophet in Israel. 
[I Kings, six, 19] 

Eliott’s I^ht Horse : see Ehott’s Tailors. 

Eliott’s TailOQCS : the 15th Hussars. The 
re^. originated in a number of tailors 
recruited by a Colonel Eliott in 1759- 
vitae [Lot., elixir of life) : a sup- 
posititious drug long sought for by 
the alchemists of the Middle Ages; 
it was supposed to prolong life 
indefinitely. 

Elizabeth, Tto spadons days (times) of : 
the illustrious period of Queen Eliza- 
beth’s reign (1558-1603). 

Elizabethans, The (Great) : the company 
of great men poets, dramatists, 
statesmen, etc., who fiourished during 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558- 
1603). 

Elm The: New Haven, Connecticut. 
On account of the number of its elm- 
trees. 

Eloquent Doctor, The : Peter Aureolus 
(X4th cent.), Archbidiop of Aix. 

Eloquent, The Old Man: (i) Isocrates 
(436-338 B.C.), Grk. orator; (2) 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), 
Esxg. statesman. 

Eltchi, The Great : Lord Stratford de 
Redcliffe (Sir Stratford Canning} 
(1786-1880), British Ambassador to 
the Porte. Turk., elchee, ambassador. 

THitiiAni motion: a perpetual-motion 
machine exhibited at Bltham, Alluded 
to by Ben Jonson and others. 

Elysian Heidis^ The ; Elysium : a place 
of delight. After the mythical abode 
of the Blessed after death. 

Elzevir : a style of printing-type as used 
by the Elzevir family at L^den and 
Amsterdam (1583-1712). ‘ Elzevir 

Editions * of the classics were at one 
time prized by book-collectors. 

UimfttTiiaai ConquerCT, The: Alexander 
the Great. After l^athia (Macedonia 
and Thessaly). 


K 



Eml)arras] 130 

E2iil)arras de ricliesse {Fr,, embarrass- 
ment of riches) : an excess of wealth, 
resources. [Lord Chesterfield, Letters, 

n (1750)] 

Ember Days : four religious periods of 
fasting : early in Lent, Whitsunday, 
Holy Cross Day, St. Lucia’s Day. 
Anglo-Sax., ymhren, circuit. 

Ember Weeks : the weeks in which the 
Ember Days fall. 

Emberings : the fasts of the Ember 
Weeks. 

Embryo, In : in an early, undeveloped 
stage. [Ver 7 iey Papers (1636-7)] 

Emerald Me, The : Ireland. On account 
of the predominant greenness of the 
land. First used by William Brennan 
(1754-1820), Irish poet, in Erin (1798). 

Emerald, To look through an ; to look in 
a spirit of happiness and contentment. 
[Lyly, Eiiphues and His England 
(1580)] 

Emergency man. An : one who can be 
employed in an emergency, esp. to 
assist in evictions in Ireland. 

Emigres (Fr., emigrated [ones]) : 
Royalist refugees from France during 
the period of the first Revolution. 

Empire City, The : see Empire State. 

Empire Day : May 24, the birthday of 
Queen Victoria; a British imperial 
festival. 

Empire State (City), The : New York, as 
the most important of the States and 
cities of the Union. The title was 
given to the state by George Washing- 
ton in reply to an address by the 
common council of New York City 
(Dec. 2, 1784). 

Empire State of the South, The : Georgia. 

Empress of the North, The : Edinburgh, 
so-called by Sir Walter Scott. 
[Marmion, ca. 4, st. 32 (1808}] 

Enceladus, An : a giant. After a giant 
in Grk. mythology. 

Enclave, An : a piece of territory under 
the jurisdiction of one Power sur- 
rounded by territory under the juris- 
diction of another. 

Encourager les autres. Pour {Fr., to en- 
courage the others) : from Voltaire, 
Candide (1759), in allusion to the 
shooting of Admiral Byng for his 
failure to relieve Minorca (1757). 

Encyclopaedia, A walking : see Walking. 

Encyclopaedists, The : Diderot, d’Alem- 
bert, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montes- 
quieu, and others, who edited and 
wrote the famous French Encyclopidie 

(1751-65). 


[English 

End, At a loose : with no definite 
occupation. 

End goes forward, Not to care which : to 
be negligent or reckless. [Withal, 
Dictionarie (1608)] 

End of one’s tether, To come to the : to 
reach one’s limit. In allusion to a 
goat tied to a stake. 

End of the chapter. To : until the end. 

End up. To keep (hold) one’s : to do one’s 
part on terms of equality. 

Ends meet, To make both : to fit one’s 
expenditure to one’s income. 

Ends, To burn the candle at both : to 
overwork by encroaching on time that 
should be devoted to rest or recreation. 

Endymion, An : a beautiful youth. 
After Endymion of Grk. legend. 

Endymion’s sleep : endless sleep. From 
the Grk. legend of Endymion, on 
whom Jupiter conferred eternal youth 
in the form of unbroken sleep. 

Enemy but his own. Nobody’s : one who 
by weakness of character, while 
attempting to benefit others generally 
fails, and seldom does anything of 
advantage to himself. The phrase 
was originated by Anacharsis, the 
Scythian (fl. 592 B.C.), one of the sages 
of antiquity. 

Enemy ? How goes the : what is the 
time ? ‘ Time ’ in the sense of the 
enemy, the destroyer, of man. 
[Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xix 
(1838)] 

Enemy of mankind, The : Satan. 

Enfant de la Fortune, L’ (Fr., the child 
of fortune) : Andr6 Massena (1756- 
1817), Fr. marshal ; the title given to 
him by Napoleon after the battle of 
Rivoli (1807). 

Enfant gat§. An (Fr.) : a spoilt child. 

Enfant terrible, An (Fr., terrible child) : 
a person habitually getting those 
responsible for him into trouble. 

Enfants de Dieu (Fr., children of God) : 
a name assumed by the Camissards 
(Fr. Protestants) who revolted in 1702. 

England, Young : see Young. 

England’s darling : Hereward the Wake 
(d. 1072), a Saxon hero. 

English Aristophanes, The : Samuel 
Foote (1722-77). After Aristophanes 
(448-385 B.C.), the famous Grk. 

comedian. 

English as she is spoke : colloquial 
English. 

English Attila, The : Oliver Cromwell 
(1599-1658). After Attila (d. 453), 
the conquering king of the Hims. 



English] 131 

English Diana» The : Qucea Elizabeth 
(1533-1603). After Diana, the Roman 
goddess of the chase, the moon, etc. 

English Ennius, The : Layamon (fl. 
1200). After Quintus Ennius (239- 
170 B.C.), an early Roman poet. 

English Garrison, The : the landlords of 
Ireland. So-called by the Irish Land 
League. 

English Hobbema, The : John Crome, 
the elder (1769-1821), leading painter 
of the Norwich School of landscape- 
painters. After Meindert Hobbema 
(1638-1709), the Dutch landscape- 
painter. 

English Homer, The: see Homer, The 
British. 

English Justinian, The; see Justinian. 

English Juvenal, The : John Oldham 
(1653-83). After Juvenal {60-140), 
the Roman satirist. 

English Mersenne, The: John Collins 
(1625-83). After Marin Merseime 
(1588-1648), Fr. philosopher and 
mathematician. 

English Naples, The : Bournemouth. 

English Pale, The : see Pale. 

English Petrarch, The : Sir Philip 
Sidney (1554-86). After Francesco 
Petrarch (1304-74), the Ital. poet. 
So-called by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

English Pindar, The : (i) Abraham 

Cowley (1618-67), so-called by George, 
Duke of Bucl^gham (1628-87 ) ; 

(2) Thos. Gray (1716-71), so-called on 
the tablet to his memory in West- 
minster Abbey. After Pindar (522- 
443 B.C.), the famous Theban lyric 
poet. 

English Poussin, The : Richard Cooper 
(d. 1806). After Nicholas Poussin 
(1594-1665), the Ital. painter. 

Engli^ Rabelais, The: (1) Jonathan 
Swift (1667-1745), so-called by Vol- 
taire ; (2) Laurence Sterne (1713-68) ; 

(3) Thomas Amory {1691-1788). After 
Fran9ois Rabelais (1490-1553), the 
Fr. satirist. 

English Si. Sebastian, The : St. Edmund, 
the martyr-king of East Anglia. After 
St. Sebastian (d. 288). In both cases 
the mariyrdom (shooting by arrows) 
was similar. 

En glish Sappho, The : Mrs. Mary Darly 
Robinson (1758-1800), Eng. actress, 
novelist, and poet. After Sappho 
(fl. 611-592 B.C.), the early Grk. 
poetess. 

English Seneca, The : Joseph Hall (1574- 
1656), Eng. bishop and author. After 


[Entire 

Seneca (3 B.C. to 65 A.D.), Roman 
philosopher and statesman. 

English Solomon, The : (i) Henry VII 
(1457-1509), so-called by J ohn Skelton, 
the poet, and by Lord Bacon; {2) 
James I (1566-1625). 

English Terence, The ; Richard Cumber- 
land (1732-1811). After Terence (i 94- 
159 B.C.), the Roman dramatist. So- 
called by Oliver Goldsmith. 

English, To get to one’s : to get into a 
passion. 

English Virgil, The : see Virgil. 

Englishman’s castle. An : his house, into 
which by law the bailifl cannot enter 
without permission of the occupier. 
From the proverb, * An Englishman's 
house is his castle ! ' 

Englishman’s meal. The : tea. So- 
called by Mr. J. W. Lowther, Speaker 
of the House of Commons, in June, 
1920. 

Enlightened Doctor, The: Raymund 
Lully, of Palma (1234-1315). 

Ennislnlliners, The: the 6th Dragoon 
Guards. On account of their origin 
from among the defenders of Ennis- 
killen in 1689. 

Ennuis, The J^lis^ The French, The 
Spanish : see English, French, Spanish. 

Enoch Arden, An : a man who returns 
after a long disappearance to find his 
wife happy as the wife of another man. 
From a poem so-entitled by Alfred, 
Lord Tennyson (1864), 

Ensign, The Blue : the flag of the Royal 
Nav^ Reserve. 

Ensign, The Bed : the flag of the British 
merchant-service. 

Ensign, The White : the flag of the Royal 
Navy and of the Royal Yacht 
Squadron. 

Enteleehy : the realization of an ideal. 
After the kingdom of Queen Quint- 
essence in JE^belais, Gar^aniua and 
Paniagruel (1532). 

Entente, An : a friendly understanding, 
less definite than an Alliance, between 
Powers in relation to foreign affairs. 

Entente Cordiale, The: the friendly 
understanding between England and 
France, entered into in 1905, which 
later developed into a formal Alliance. 
The friendly relations between France 
and England were first thus described 
by Louis Philippe in a speech from the 
throne in January, 1843. 

Entire : ale, as distinguished from 
‘ Cooper,' which is half ale and half 
porter. 



En-tout-cas] 132 

En-tout-oas* An (Fr,, in all cases) : a 
light umbrella serving also as a sun- 
shade. 

Enire nous (Pr,, between ourselves) : in 
confidence. [Christopher Anstey, 
Poetical Epistles, Letter I (1767)] 

Eparchy, An : (i) an administrative 

division in Greece ; (2) a diocese of the 
Kussian Orthodox Church. 

EphftfdftTi, An : a drunkard ; a boon 
companion. [Shakespeare, 2 Henry 1 V, 

11, ii (1597-8)] 

Ephesian Poet, The : Hipponax (fl. 540 
B.C.), who was bom at Ephesus. 

Ephesus, Letters of : bribes. The 
original Letters of Ephesus were 
magical writings that assured success. 

Epicure, An : one who is an expert in 
taste of food and drink. After 
Epicurus (340-270 B,C.), the Grk. 
philosopher. 

E^onrean, An : one devoted to refined 
pleasures ; luxurious. 

Bpioums of China, The ; Tao-tse {6th 
cent. B.C.). After Epicurus (342-270 
B.C.), Grk. philosopher. 

Epimenides’ sleep: a lengthy sleep 
which induces wisdom. After the 
miraculous sleep of 57 years* duration 
of Epimenides, of Crete, as told by 
Biogenes I-aertius, in his Lives of the 
Greek Philosophers, 

Epiphany: Jan. 6, a Church festival 
held in celebration of the appearance 
of Christ to the Wise Men of the 
East. 

Epitaph, To lie like an : from the repu- 
tation attaching to epitaphs as a class 
of exaggerating or inventing the 
virtues of their subjects. [Ben. 
Franklin, Poor Richard* s Almanac 

(1742)] 

Ennality State, The: Wyoming. The 
first State in which women were 
granted the suffrage. 

Egnes Anratus, An \jLai,, gilded knight) : 
a knight-bachelor, who was formerly 
entitled to wear gilded armour. 

Era of Good Feeling, The : 1817 to 1824, 
in Amer. history, when there were no 
strong political divisions. The phrase 
was coined as the title of a leading 
article in the Boston Sentinel on July 

12, 1817. 

Erebus, As dark as: in m3rthology, 
Erebus is the place of darkness between 
earth and Hades. [Shakespeare, 
Merchant of Venice, V, i, 87 (1596)] 

Erin : a poetical name for Ireland. 
Celtic, eri, western. 


[Estates 

Ermine, To wear the : to be a judge. 
From the ermine trimmings on 
official robes of British judges. 

Erotic School, The : the Amer. school 
of poets and novelists, Amalie Rives, 
Edgar Saltus, Gertrude Atherton and 
others, who treat of the passion of 
love. The phrase first appeared in 
Amer. newspapers in 1888. From 
Eros, the Grk. god of Love. 

Ena Pater, An : an almanac. After a 
medieval astrologer. 

Erudite of the Romans, The most: 
Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 B.C.), 
Roman man-of-letters. 

Erythroean Mam, The : the Indian 
Ocean. Its classical name. 

Esculapiw : medical. After Esculapios, 
a physician, mentioned by Homer. 

E^eranto : name of an axtificial 

universal language invented by Br. L. 
Zamenhoff (1887) under the nom-de* 
plume of ' Br. Esperanto.' 

Esprit d’escaliez (Fr., staircase wit) ; a 
happy afterthought that occurs to 
one's mind too late for useful ex- 
pression to be given to it, e.g,, when 
one is already descending the staircase 
on departing from the gathering at 
which it could have been utilized. 

Esprit de corps (Fr-» spirit of the body) : 
devotion of an individual to the moral 
interests of the body of which he is a 
member. [Horace Walpole, Letters, 
II (1780)] 

Esprit fort. An (Ff., a strong mind) : 
one who is superior to common preju- 
dices ; a freethinker. [Tavernier* s 
Travels, II, p. 154 (1684)] 

Ekses, A ooUu of the : see Collar of the 
SS. 

Essex Junto : a political group in U.S. 
history at the end of i8th and begin- 
ning of 19th cents. After Essex 
County, Massachusetts, with which 
several of the leaders were connected. 

Essex lion. As valiant as an : timorous. 
Calf and sheep abound in Essex. A 
proverbial saying. An Essex lion is a 
calf. [Ray, Proverbs (1670)] 

Essex man (woman), An : a simpleton. 
[Killigrew, The Parson* s Wedding, III, 
V (1663)] 

Essex stile. An : a ditch. On account of 
the number of marshes in Essex. 

Estate, The Eifth : see Fifth estate. 

Estate, The Fourth : see Fourth. 

Estate, The Third : see Third. 

Estates, The Four : the Lords Spiritual, 
the Lords Temporal, the Commons, 


I 



Estates] 133 

the Press. The fourth is added 
humorously, or sarcastically. Its 
earliest use is attributed to Edmund 
Burke. See also Third Estate, Fourth 
Estate, Fifth Estate. 

Estates, The Three ; Estates of the 
Realm : the Lords Spiritual, the Lords 
Temporal, the Commons. 

Et tu, Brute {Lat., you, too, Brutus) : a 
reproof conveying a charge of base 
ingratitude. Attributed to Julius 
Caesar after Brutus had stabbed him. 
[Shakespeare, Julius CcBsar^ III, i 
(1601)] 

Eternal City, The : Rome. The phrase 
in the form of * Eternal Rome,' was 
first used in literature by Tibullus, the 
Rom. poet (54-19 B.C.). In Virgil, 
Mneid (I, 79) Rome’s eternal empire is 
given by Jupiter. 

Ethiopian white, To wash the : see Wash. 

Eton Montem : see Montem. 

Ettrick Shepherd, The : James Hogg 
(1770-1835), the Scottish poet and 
shepherd. 

Eucrates, More shifts than : full of shifts. 
After Eucrates, one of the archons of 
Athens, who was famous for his 
shiftiness. 

Eumeeus, A Second : after Eumaeus, the 
faithful swineherd of Ulysses. 

Euphrosyne, An : a happy young woman. 
After one of the three Graces, the 
goddess of Joy. 

Buphues, To speik (talk) ; to use flowery 
language : see Euphuism. 

Euphuism : florescence of language. 
After Lyly, cultivator of a new style, in 
his works, Euphues^ or the Anatomy of 
Wit (1579) and Euphues and His 
England (1580). 

Eurasia : Europe and Asia, regarded as 
one continent. 

Eurasian, A : a child of mixed European 
and Asiatic parentage. 

Eurdca I (Grk., I have found it !) : an 
exclamation of success. Attributed to 
Archimedes {zZ'j-zm B.C.), on dis- 
covering the law of specific gravity. 

Eurip^ A : a dangerous fluctuation of 
afiairs. After a dangerous strait 
between Bceotia and Euboea. 

Euterpean: relating to music. After 
Euterpe, the muse that presided over 
wind-instruments. 

Evangelic Doctor, The : John Wyclifie 
(1324-84), precursor of the Reform- 
ation. 

Evening of one’s age. The : old age, esp. 
a placid one. [Bacon, Spurious 


[Ex 

Essays : Essay on Death (early 17th 
cent.)] 

Ever-sworded, The : the 29th Regt. of 
Foot, now the Worcestershire Regt. 
From an instruction issued, after the 
surprise and massacre of a part of the 
regiment by the French in 1746, that 
they should always wear their swords. 

Ever-victorious Army, The : the army of 
Charles George Gordon, with which he 
suppressed the Taeping Rebellion in 
1864. 

Everglad State, The : Florida. On 
account of its wide tracts of grass-land 
and water. 

Everlasting staircase, The : the treadmill. 

Evil days, Fallen on : subject to mis- 
fortune ; reduced in circumstances. 

Evil eye. The : the supposed magical 
gift of causing harm to others merely 
by looking at them. This belief is 
ve:^ widespread and of great anti- 
quity. It was prevalent among the 
Greeks and Romans and a reference 
to is to be found m. The Wisdom of 
Solomon. 

Evil Eye, An : a harmful glance ; a look 
of hatred. [Matthew, xx, 15.] 

Evil genius, An: one who influences 
another for evil. Properly, the evil 
one of the two spirits-— the other one 
is the good — ^which are supposed to 
accompany everyone through life. 

Evil May Day : Mayday, 1517, when the 
London Apprentices attacked the 
foreign residents. 

Evil principle, The : the devil. 

Evovae : an abbreviation of the last two 
words of the doxology sEcUlOrUm- 
AmEn to be found in Latin psalters. 

Ewe-lamb, A : an unique and much 
prized possession. [II Samuel, xii, 
1-14] 

Ewig-weibliche, Das {Germ., the eternal 
feminine) : [Goethe, Faust, Pt. II, v] 

Ex cathedra (Lea., from the chair) : 
(speaking) with authority. The ' chair ' 
is the throne of the Pope. 

Ex libris, An (LcU., from the books) : a 
book-plate. 

Ex luce lucdlnm (LcU., out of a light a 
little gain) : motto suggested by 
Robert Lowe, Lord Sherbrooke 
(1811-92), on the occasion of his 
abortive proposals for a tax on matches 
(1871). 

Ex officio (Lot., by virtue of ofSce). 
[More, Apology (1533)1 

Ex oriente lux (Lot., light from the 
East). 



Ex] 134 [Eyes 


Ex parte {Lea., out of a part) : one-sided ; 
partisan. Orig. a legal term. [A. C., 
Answer to a Letter of a Jesuited 
Gentleman, p. 4 (1601)] 

Ex pede Herculem (Herolem) {Lai., from 
the foot, Hercules) : judgment by 
sample. From the legend that 
Pythagoras calculated the height of 
Hercules by comparison of the length 
of the Hercules stadium at Ol3niipia 
■with that of an ordinary stadium. 

Ex post fa(^o {Lot., from after the deed) : 
of a law adopted to deal with an 
ofEence already committed ; of a con- 
clusion arrived at ■fheoretically after 
the result is known. 

Ex uno omiies {Lot,, from one, all) : of a 
general inference drawn from a solitary 
example. [Virgil, JEneid, Bk. II, 
U. 65-^] 

Ex vote {Lot., from a vow) ; of a thank- 
ofEering made in fulfilment of a vow. 

Tgyalt one’s honit To : to offer resistance. 
From the biblical sense of ' horn ' as 
a symbol of power or means of defence. 
[Psdlnis, Ixxv, 5, 10] 

Excalibnr, An : a trusty sword. After 
the magical sword of King Arthur. 

Exedsior State, The: New York. On 
account of its motto * Excelsior * 
(Higher). 

Exchange wench, An : a woman who 
kept a stall at an Exchange. The 
reputation of this class of women was 
low. 

Exolusionisis, The : the supporters of the 
Bill to exclude the Duke of York, 
afterwards James II, from the English 
tiirone. 

The : the 40th Regt. of Foot. 
From the Roman numerals XL (forty), 

Eceter Hall: the Evang^cal Party in 
the Qiurch of England. After the 
former locale in London of tiieir May 
Meetings {q.v.). 

Exeter H rfl, The Bray of : the opposition 
of the Evangelical Party to the May- 
nooth College Endowment, From a 
speech by Lord Macaulay in the 
House of Commons, April, 1845. 

Exeter’s Dan^ter, The Di&ce of: sea Duke. 

Extinct volcano. An : a person who has 
lost his former power or force. 

ExtingoM the fke^ To take oil to : see 
Take. 

Extol to the skies. To; to praise 
extravagantly. 

Extra pull, An : an advantage. A drink- 
ing metaphor from the extra pull at 
the handle of the beer machine. 


Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth : the 
law of retaliation. [Exodus, xxi, 24] 
Eye of a needle, To pnt a rope to an : 
see Put. 

Eye of day. The : (i) the Sun ; {2) the 
daisy, which opens -with the sun. 
[Chaucer, Legende of Good Women, 
Prologue, 11. 182-5 (14th cent.)] 

Bye of Greece, The: (i) Corinth; 

(2) Athens. See Eyes of Greece. 

Bye of heaven. The : the sun. [Spenser, 
Fame (^een, I, iii, 4 (1590-6)] See 
also Eyes of heaven. 

Eye of the Baltic, The : Gottland. 

Eye of the ni^t, The : the moon. 
[Pindar, Odes : Olympia, III, 33-6 ; 
Rich. Glover. Leonidas, Bk. Ill (1737)] 
Eye of the Storm, The: an opening 
between storm-clouds. 

Eye of the World, The : (i) literature ; 

so-called by Carlyle; (2) -the sun. 

Bye of . . To oatoh the : to attract the 
attention of . . [The Spectator, No. 224 

{1711)] 

Eye on . . To keep an : to keep under 
observation. 

Eye parley : communication by means 
of interchange of looks. 

Eye, The apple of one’s : see Apple. 

Eye to eye. To see : to be in perfect 
agreement. 

Eye, To see with half an : of something 
that is ob-vious. [Northbrooke, Treatise 
against Dicing (1577)] 

Eye to the main bhanoe. To have an : 
to keep one's own advantage always 
before one. A dicing metaphor. 
[Lyly, Euphues : Anatomy of Wit 
(1579) ; Rob. Wilson, Three Ladies of 
London, II, 1. 1253 (1584)] 

Eye upon . . To have (keep) an : to keep 
under one's observation. [Dryden, 
Sir Martin Marr all, IV, i (1668)] 
Eyes and ears of an army. The : the 
cavalry. 

Eyes and ears of the State, The : the 
sunbassadors. S o-called by S ansovino . 
[Concetti Politici, 276] 

Eyes at a person. To make : to ogle ; to 
look lovingly at a person. 

Eyes at the back of one’s head. To have : 
to be mentally very alert. [ApostoUius, 
Proverbia, xii, 94] 

Eyes in . . Up to one’s : immersed in ; 
fully engaged in. 

Eyes of a fleet. The; (i) cruisers; 
(2) airships. 

E^es of Greece, The : Athens and Sparta, 
[Milton, Paradise Regained, IV, 240 
(1671)] See also Eye of Greece. 



135 


Eyes] 

Eyes of heaven (night), The : the stars. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, II, ii, 540 
(1602-3)] See also Eye of heaven. 

Eyes of the world. In the: in public 
opinion. 

Eyes open, To have (keep) one’s : to be 
-wideawake, fully ^ert. 

Eyes open. To sleep with one’s : to be 
always on the qui vive. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580)] 

Eyes, The Almond : the Chinese. From 
the shape of their eyes. 

Eyes, The King’s : the principal officers 
of the state. 

Eyes to draw straws. To have : to be 
nearly asleep ; from the appearance 
of candlelight through eyelids almost 
closed. 

Eyes to the blind : a staS. In allusion 
to the stafE given by Athena to 
Tiresias in place of the eyes of which 
she had deprived him. 

Eyes to . . To close one’s : to refuse to 
see or acknowledge . . \The History 
of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, ch. 3 
(1608)] 

Eye-opener, An : that which suddenly 
casts light on something hitherto 
concealed, or indefinite; a surprise. 

Eye-sore, An : that which ofiends the 
eye. [Lyly, Euphues and His 
England (1580)] 

Eye-teeth, To cut one’s : to pass out of 
Childhood- 

Eye-teeth, To draw a person’s: to 
moderate his self-confidence. 

Eye-teeth, To have one’s: to be well 
awake to current events and their 
meaning. 

Eye-wash : means of deceit ; ' bunkum.' 


F, To be branded on the forehead with an : 

to have the appearance of a ro^e. 
From the letter F (felon) at one time 
branded on con-victed criminals who 
had obtained the Benefit of Clergy 
(q.v.). 

F’s The three : Fair rents. Fixity of 
tenure, and Free sale. An Eng. 
political claim (1880-90) for agricul- 
turists. 

Fabian, A : a member of the Fabian 
Society, founded in 1884 for the 
promulgation of socialist ideas. After 
Quintus Fabius Maximus, a Roman 
General (275-203 B.C.), whose dela3dng 
tactics, avoiding ba-fctle while harass- 
ing the enemy, earned him the cogno- 
men 'Cunctator' (the 'Delayer.'). 


[Faces 

Fabian tactics : delaying tactics. After 
those adopted by the Roman General 
Quintus Fabius Maximus (275-203 
B.C.) in his battles -with the 
Carthaginians. 

'Fabius, The American : George Washing- 
ton (1732-99)* 

Fabius, ®ie French : Anne, Due de 
Montmorency, Constable of France 

(1493-1567)* 

Fabridus, As simple (contented) as : very 
honest and frank. After Fabricius 
Luscinus Caius (fl. 285-278 B.C.), 
Roman Consul and General, famous for 
his incorruptibility. 

Face against. To set one’s : to oppose. 
In allusion to the expression of one's 
face when determined on opposition. 

Face it with a card of ten. To : to adopt 
an impudent demeanour. Apparently 
a metaphor derived from a card-game. 
A card of ten was a tenth card. [Ben 
Jonson, The New Inne, I, iii (1631) ; 
Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew 
(1596)] 

Face of Europe, To change the : to alter 
the boundaries of the European states. 

Face of it. On the : apparently. 

Face out a thing, To : to ca^ oneself 
through a difficult situation by means 
of efirontery. [Wever, Lusty 
Juventus, 1. 683 (1560)] 

Face the music. To : to appear before 
one's judges, usually the public, and 
explain one's actions. Four possible 
derivations have been suggested. From 
(i) the actor, who in facing the music 
faces the public, his critics; (2) the 
difficulty in training army-horses to 
remain quiet in the company of a 
regimental band ; (3) the drumming- 
out of men dismissed by the U.S. 
army; (4) the muster of militia men 
who are drawn up in ranks facing the 
band. 

Face to face : in the presence of one 
another. \Marric^e of Wit cmd 
Science, II, ii (1570)] 

Face, To pull a long : to look discon- 
tented or disappointed. [Peter 
Pindar, Expostulaiory Odes, Ode xv 

(1789)] 

Face to . . Xo hare the : to have the 

impudence to , . [1600] 

Face, To show one’s : to put in an 
appearance. 

Face upon . . To put a good : to make the 
best of . . [Heywood, Proverbes 

(1546)3 

Faces, lo urake : to pull grimaces. 



Faces] 


136 


[FaU 


Faces under one hood, Do keep two : to 
be deceitful or donble-^iced. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Facer, A ; a situation, (X a problem, 
almost hopeless of solntLon. iF^oin a 

* facer,’ a blow in the face, in the slang 
of the King. 

Fadle pxlnceps (Lai., easily nistj : 

[Cicero, De DivinaHone, II, 42] 
Facilisdesoensiis Avemi (Lai., the descent 
of the Avemus is easy) : it is easy to 
degenerate or fall. From Virgil, 
Mneid, vi, 126. Avemus, a lake in 
Italy, was supposed to be the entrance 
to Hades. 

Fhdng-hoth-ways, Ui. : an insinc^e 
man who pretends agreement with 
both parties. After a character in 
Bunyan, F^inCs Progress (1678). 
FadngSf To put one fhrongh his : to call 
to account ; to examine searchingly. 
A military-drill metaphor. 

Fapon de p&rler (Fr., manner of speak- 
ing) : customary mode of speedi. 
Factoiaixi, A : one who performs a 
variety of services for ano&er. From 

* Dominus fac totum . • * (Lord, do 
everything .. ). [Greene, Groafs 
Worth of Wit (1592)] 

Fad, A: a personal (generally unconven- 
tional) view or pursuit of little conse- 
quence to which one devotes exagger- 
ated importance ; a hobby, 
fafidigt, A : a person possessed by, or 
possessing, a ^ 

Fteendof .&The: the very last portion 
of.-rr^ «S9al?acii0ii cS ‘fafigned* 
j^pent) end. [Rob. Tailor, The Hog 
Hath Lost His Pearl, I, i (1614)] 
Faggot : see also Fagot. 

.faggot stitch. A: a fanqr stitch in 
needlework in ixnitation of a ^got. 
ya g in, A : a trainer of young thieves and 
^«'eceiver of their stolen ar&les. After 


^ character in Dickens, Oliver Twist 

A deoettfbl : a term of 
^ abuse applied to a woman, 
feagot (Faggot) vote : a qualification for 
the franchise specially created by the 
division of one qualif3mig property into 
several smaller ones. In x8th cent, a 


person hired to fill a vacancy in a 
regiment or muster was termed a 
' f^ot.* 

Faindant, Le Rd (Pr., King Do-nothing) : 
the occupant of an office who leaves 
all the power and responsibility to 
another. The Rois Faindants of 


history were Govis II of Neustria 


(d. 656) and his ten successors ; they 
left the government to the Mayors of 
the Palace, who ultimately usurped 
the throne. 

Faint-heazted, To he : to be easily dis- 
couraged. [Marlowe, Tamburlaine, 
pt, II (1590)] 

Fair and sgnare : straightforward. [Fr. 
Bacon, Proph. 443 (1604)] 

Fail City, The : Perth. On account of 
its beautiful situation. 

Fair day’s wozh; A : a full day's work. 
[John Still, Gammer Gorton* s Needle, 
I. iii (1566)] 

Fair game : see Game (Fair). 

Fair Maid of Fehmary, The : the snow- 
drop, which blooms in February. 

Fair l^d of Senti The : Joan Plan- 
tagenet, daughter of the Earl of Kent. 

Fail of Norway, The : Margaret, 
daughter of Eric II of Norway, and 
heiress to the crown of Scotland 
(d. 1290). 

Fair day: just bdiavionr as between 
competitm or enemies. 

Fair Qnakereas, The: Hannah light- 
foot, wife of George III before his 
accession to the throne. 

Fair sex, The : the female sex. Fr., le 
beau sexe. [Diyden, Preface to Wm. 
Walsh, Dialogue Concerning Women 

FaL^Mto : (i) smuggling [18th cent.] ; 
(2) the protection of home-trade by the 
imposition of import duties. 

Fdrest iewd in fhe Imperial Grown, The : 

India. 

Fair-weather friends : supposed friends 
who desert one in time of trouble. 

Fairy lixig (efrde), A : adrcnlarmarkin 
the grass, popularly supposed to be 
caus^ by the night-dancing of fairies ; 
really due to the mwth m fungi. 

Fait aooompli, A (Fr., accomplished 
feet) : [De Qnincey, On Murder 
Considered as a Fine Art (1827)] 

FakA Vo : to disguise, or alter, with a 
fraudulent intention. Orig. thieves' 
riang. From Germ., Jegen, to clean, 
to sweep ; or from Fakir (q.v.). 

FaSdr ; Fakeer, A (Arab., poor man) : 
an Oriental beg^g monk. 

Fdk Laws : Prussian anti-Catholic legis- 
lation, adopted between 1^2 and 1879 
at the instance of Paul Falk (1827- 
Z900). 

Fh]], : the autumn ; the period of 

the year in which the leaves An 
Amer. revival of an Eng. meaning of 
the word which had become obsolete'. 



137 


FaU] 


[Fash 


Fall foul of . . To : to quaxrel with . • 
A nautical metaphor. [Newes from 
Sea (i6i6)] 

Fall of the leaf. The : the autumn. See 
FaU, The. 

Fall into line with .. To: to agree 
with . . ; to agree to foUow the same 
course as . . 

Fall, To ride for a ; see Ride. 

Fall to the ground, To : to fail. 

Fall upon one’s feet, To : to escape from 
trouble with the assistance of good- 
luck. 

Fall with - . To try a : to enter into a 
contest with . . A wrestling metaphor. 

Falls City t LouisviUe, Kentucky, which 
overlooks the falls of the Ohio River. 

Fallen woman, A : a woman who has 
faUen, or descended from the level of 
chastity. 

Falling sickness. The : epilepsy. [Look 
about you, I, ii (1600)] 

False as a fox. As : utterly false. [Mont- 
gommery, Cherry and, Sloe (1597)] 

False as a Gre^, As ; see Graeca Fides. 

False as God is true. As : utterly false. 
[He3nvood, Proverbes (1546)] 

False as hdl, As : utterly ^ise. [Shakes- 
peare, Othello, IV, ii, 40 (1604)] 

False as the wind. As: utterly false. 
The instability of the wind has from 
early times made it a symbol for 
falseness. 

False as Wagbom, As : utterly false. 
Waghom, according to a Scottish 
proverb, was nineteen times falser than 
the devil and was crowned King of 
liars. 

False Colours : see Colours. 

Falstaff, A: a self-indulgent, free-liv- 
ing, joUy, elderly man. After a 
character in Shakespeare, Henry IV 
(1596-8) and Merry Wives of Windsor 

Famiu^^A : (i) a servant of the Holy 
Inquisition ; (2} an assistant to a 

magician. 

Faminar spirits : demons supposed to be 
in close connection with man. 

FamUist, A : a member of a Dutch 
religious sect, * The Family of Love,' 
which taught love for aU people. 
Founded by David George (d. 1556). 

Family cirole. The : the family at home. 
' Circle ' refers to the Norman period, 
when the fire was in the centre of the 
living-room. 

Family mail. A: a man of domestic 
habits, 

Fazuily of Love : see Familist. 


Fan with a feather. To: to employ 
whoUy inefi&cient means to achieve 
one’s end. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Fancy, The : pugilists ; the prize-ring. 
From ' fancy * as the equivalent of 
' sports.' 

Fancy Franchise, A : an out-of-the- 
ordinary qualification for a vote, such 
as an educational standard, the 
number of one’s family, etc. 

Fancy price, A : a price far above the 
intrinsic value. 

Fancy-free : not yet affected by the 
sentiment of love ; not yet engaged to 
be married. 

Fimdango, A : a Spanish and Spanish- 
American dance; probably of negro 
origin. 

Fanfaron; Fanfaronade: a boaster; 
boasting. One who behaves as if 
announced by a fanfare of trumpets. 
Span., fanfarron, a bully. 

Fantee, To go : to relapse into barbarism. 

Fanrique (Faniigue), To he in a ; to be 
anxious or excited. [Geo. Colman, 
jun., Sylvester Daggerwood, II (i795)] 

Far and away : very much. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Far-fetched: (of an argument, story, 
etc.) scarcely credible. Lit., fetch^ 
from afar. [Greene, Selimus, Ft. I, 

1. 306 (1594)] , , , 

Fare, A: (i) a person conveyed; (2) 
the price charged for conveying him. 
[(i) Thos. Kyd, Jeronimo, Pt. I {1591)] 

Famer George : Geoi^e III. On account 
of his dress anq habits, and also of the 
profits he maop out of farming at 
Windsor. 

Farmer’s Alliance, the : an American 
political associaiito (1873-91), formed 
to watch over the interests of agri- 
culturists ; ultimately merged in the 
People's Party. 

Faro : a gambling card-game. Pharoah’s 
effigy is said once to have been borne 
by one of the cards. 

Farrago of nonsense, A : a medley of 
humorous anecdotes, etc. ; a nonsensi- 
cal tale. Lat., farrago, a mixture or 
medle3^ 

Farrant-like, Anld : see Auld. 

Fasces : authority. From the name of 
the bundle of rods surrounding an axe 
carried before the superior magistrates 
in Rome as an emblem of their 
authority. 

Fftffh one’s beard, To : to take trouble. 

' Fash,' to afflict. 



Fast] 


I3« 


[Father 


Fast and loose with . . To : to act 
in a reckless, nsnally dishonest, way 
with . . Two derivations are possible : 
(i) from a i6th-cent. cheating game, 
mentioned by Shakespeare, Drayton 
and others; (2) from the idea of 
treating a person as ' fast ' to one 
when he is of use and as * loose ' when 
he is no longer so. [Lyly, IS/uphuas 
and His England (1580)] 

Fast as a Kenfish oysto. As : hermetic- 
ally sealed. Kentish oysters are 
proverbially good and consequently 
f^t closed. [Greene, Tu ^toque, 
11. 3008-ro (1614)] 

Fhst as one’s legs can eazxy one» As : 
very quickly. 

Eastern’s B’en: Shrove Tuesday ; the 
eve of the fast of Lent. A Scotticism. 
Fhstixigong : Shrove Tuesday. 

Fat and tihe sweet; To eat the : to 
feast. [Nehemiah, viii. zo] 

Fat from one’s lips. To lick the : to 
deprive one of his living ; to take the 
bread oat of one's montK [Rich. 
Edwards, Damon and Pitkias, 1. 178 

Fai ^6 in the fire* The : all the ingredi- 
ents for a noisy quarrel to be now 
ready. A cooking metaphor. [Hey- 
wood, Proverbss (1546)] 

Fat of the land. To live on the : to have 
every luxury at one's call. [Earle, 
Microcosmography : A Cooks (1628)] 
Fat as a porpcmief As: [Swift, Polite 
ConversaHon, 294 (1731)] 

Fata Uorgana, A Fairy Morgana) : 
an atmospheric phenomenon whereby 
distant objects become inverted, or 
distorted. The Fairy Morgana, 
according to medieval romance, was 
the sister of 20^ Arthnr. 

Fatal Sisters, The : the Fates (q-v,). 
[Arth. Brooke, Tragical History of 
Romms and Jidiet (1582)] 

Fhtes, The : Qotho, the spinner of the 
thread of life ; Lachesis, the disposer 
of lots, who fixed its length; opd. 
Atropos, who severs the thread of life. 
Fatber SKiyiiain ; Abcaiiam Lincoln (1809-63), 
President of the United States. 

Father : Adam, the fixst man, the father of 


bunianity’. 

FiAher ITeprano: the oceaiL After Keptane, the 
Roman god of the seas. 

FriiuBr Hfie ; the Nile, penooified. 

Fstbar cd a *dhap^* : tse ChapeL 
Shther of Amadoa, The : Samuu Adams (Z722-Z803), 
American statesman and zevolntionist. 

Fettier of An^hg; The : Isaak Walton (z393’-x683). 
Father of BeUevezaKhe : Mahomet. , _ 

Father of BotupijHie : Joseph Fittoo de Tonmefort 
(1656-1708), Fr. botanist. 



Father oi Brittih ftihma IfarisatioD, The : Fkands 
Egerton, Dnke of Bzidgevatc 
plaxmed and finnurwl the 
swtem. 

Father of ^ ^ — .. 

Winslow Taylor (d. 1015). 

Father of Qhenustqr* The : Ainanld de ViUenenve 
The : Aristophanes ( 448-385 

B C.). 

Father of Ihitoh Fo^, The : Jakob Maerlant (Z335- 
1300). 

Father of Eodeefaurtioal (Ghnidt) Bhtoiy, The: 
Eosebins of Cosax^ (264-349)* , 

Father <ri ww gWah B<aany, The: William Turner 

Oaihedtal Uosio, The : Thomas 

Tallis (1510-83). 

Father of Poetry* Xhe : Geoffrey Chancer 

Faiiun^^lNdiBh Frixiiii& The : sm Printingr. 

Esther of ProfeT^ : (x) Wydifie (1334- 

84) ; M Roger Ascham (1515-68). 

Bhihtf of Smio Poetry. The: Homer (zoih cent. B.C). 

Father of EonttynOie: Heneam Finch, Earl of 
Nottizigham (1621-83), Lord Chancellor. 

Fattier mnam Draina, The: Etienne Jodelle 

^a^c^^liseauih ffiltoty. The: Andrd Duchesne 

PUee, The : Geoficoi de Vllle- 
hardonin (Z167-1813). 

Father of neneh Sattreb The: Mathuzln Regnier 

Sonlptnze* The: sm Sculpture. 
Fattier of Fwn^ Surgery, Surgery. 

, xue • (zi Rob. Gander 
e Comeille (1606-84). 

(i) Avicenna (980-1037), 

'Arabic sdmtist; (3) Nicolas Steno (X63X-87), 
Danish-Italian g^ogist ; (3) Wm. Smith (x 76 s^ 
1840). 

Father of Ctemian literatnreb The: Gotthold 
Ephnum Lessing (1739-81). 

Father of Good WouB, The : the Sultan Mahomet IZ 

(i) ^^ylns ( 5 * 5 - 

Butnccl'^ekiHUs.l^: T^^nder(fl.67«B.C.). 

Father of Greek ftoae, The : Herodotue (c. 484-4^4 
B.C.). 

Fhthtt'ef Greek Tragedy, The : ^schylua ( 525-436 
B.C.). 

Friher of hk Oonntiy, The : a title borne by many 
patriots throughout the course of history. The 
Ihst was dcexo, on whom it was conferred by 
Cato. 

Fifher id ESi Peoide^ The : (z) Louis XII of France 
(Z463-Z5Z5); w ChiAtiw III of Denmark 
(X503-50). Sm also Father of the People. 

Fattier of Painting. The; Fdlygnotos of 

Thaos (& 463-435 B.C.). 

Fatto of ElBtow, The : Hezodotus (484-408 B.C.). 
So-called by Qcero. 

Ihther of Temhift Vene, The : Arcbiloohns of Faros 
(fl. 700 B.C.). 

Fattier of Inaaottve Philosopby* The: Francis 
Bacon. Lord Verulam {Z56Z-Z626). 

Fattier d Itriemattonal. Law. The : Hugo Grotins 




iPMie,Th8: Boccaccio (zsi3-75 

Fattier 0! Jesti, The : Jose^ Miller (x6^-z738] 
Engditti wit. 

Father of TmigFmdeDioe^ The : Rannlph de GlanvlIIe 
(d. XZ90), author of TraOt^ de Legfbu* et 


t Anglifu (zi8^. 

rtf f ^wiiinlng , The ; Audld Leahtie 

(1613-Z700), French architect and landscape 
gazdwer. 



Father] 


139 


[Faye 


Father ol Letters, The : I^cis I of France (x494~ 
1547), a patron of literature. 

of Lies, The : Satan. viii, 

Father 0! Hed^e^ The : (z) AretsBos of Cappado> 
da ; (fl. 70) ; (3) Hippocrates of Cos (460-357 
B.C.). 

Father o! Modem Oil Fainting, The : Jan van Eyck 
(1383-1^^0), Flemish painter. 

Fauiu o! Motto Fzose Fiction, The : Danid Defoe 

So^tioism, The: Pierre Bayle 
(1647-1706), philosopher. 

Father of Mom Philosophy, The : Thomas Aquinas 
(1327-74), Italian Scholastic theologian. 

Father ol Mnsio, The: Giovanni Pierluigi da 
Palestrina (1525-9^, Italian composer. 

Father o! Mnaidiuui, The : Jubal. {Genesisy iv, ax] 

Father ol Mavigatiozi, The : Don Henzique, Dnke of 
Viseo (1394-14^), one of the greatest of Portu- 
gese travellers. 

Father ol Ornithology, The : George Edwards (1693- 
1773)- 

Father of Oithodosy, The: Athanasius, Bp. of 
Alexandria (293-373) • 

Fa&er of Faxoay, The : Hipponax (5th cent. B.C.), 
Grk. iambic poet. 

Father of Peace, The : Andrea Doria (1466-1560), 
Genoese admiral and condottiere. Title gpven to 
him by the Senate of Genoa. 

Father ol Philosophy, The: (1) Roger Bacon 
(1214-94), Rng. philosGpher and scholar; (2) 
Albrecht von Haller (i7o&-77)» Swiss physiologist, 
anatomist, botanist and poet. 

Father of Poetry, The : (z) Ozpheus, a semi-legendary 
Grk. poet ; (2) Homer. 

Father ol Reform, The; John Cartwridit (1740- 
1834), Eng. radical pulitidan and publicist. 

Ftoer ca Bimcule, The : Francois Rabelais (1490- 
2553), Fr. satirist. 

Father of Rivers, The : (1) the River Apidanus m 
Thessaly, so-called by Euripides in Hecuha 
(II. 446-53) ; (2) the River Lydias in Macedonia, 
so-cidled by Euripides in Bacclug (11. 57i”5)- 

Father of Boinaii Philosophy, ^Hie ; Cicero (106-43 
B.C.), 

Father of Rome" Satire, The : Caius LucUios (z8o- 
103 B.C.). 

Father of Sarii^ The : Archilochus of Faros (700 B.C.). 

Father of Sool^ Landscape Painting, The : John 
Thomson, of Duddington ^778-1840). 

Father of Swedish Eloauenoe, The : Nordenbjdtn. 

Father of Itophony, The : see Symphony. 

Father of tne Chnroh, A : one of the writers of the 
Early Caurcb, whose teachings are accepted as 
authoritative. 

Fsiher ol the Eaithfnl, The ; the Patriarch Abraham, 
\RomanSy ivl. 

Father of the House of Commons, The : the living 
member who has sat there continuously for the 
longest period. 

Father of the Human Race, !Hie : Adam. 

Father ol the People, The ; (1) a title a^um^ by 
the Absolutist kings of Denmark ; (2) Gabnd du 
Pineau (1573-1644), Fr. lawyer. See also Fatba 
of his People. 

Father of the Potteries, The : see Potteries. 

Father ol the Spanish Drama, The : Lope Felix de 
Vega Carpio (1562-1635). 

Father of the Tandeville, The ; see Vaudeville. 

Father of Tragedy, t 5 : (1) AEschylus (525-456 
B.C.): (3) Thespis (fl. 535 S.C.). 

Father of Watera. fie : (ij the Irrawaddy ; (a) the 
Mississippi* (3) the Mle, so-called by Samud 
Johnson in Shsetas (z759}> 

Fattier on a p«woil To : to impute to a person. 

Father Thames ; the River Thames. 

Fattier, The Little: see Little Father. 

Father, The Thoughtful : Nicholas Catinat (1637- 
1712), Marshal of France. So called by his 
soldiers. 


Fhther Tiber : the River Tiber, pezsonified. 

Father Time : time, personified ; generally depicted 
as an old man with a scythe. 

Fathers of Christian Doctrine The Fonnder ol the : 
Casar de Bus (1544-1607). 

Fathers of the Chiodbu The : (1) the Apostolic Fathers, 
contemporaries of the Apostles, vix», Qement of 
Rome, Barnabas, Hennas, Ignatius and Poly- 
carp ; (2) the Primitive Fathers, who lived in the 
first thrM centuiies of the Christian era, vis., 
Justin, Theophilus of Antioch, Irensus, Qement 
of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Oiigen, 
Gregory Thaomatui^, Dionysius of Alex- 
andria, TertuUian ; (3) see Fathers of the Greek 
Church. 


Fathers of the Greek Ohnzch, The: Eusebius, 
Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory Narian- 
zenus, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Jerusalem, 
Qirysostom, Epiphanius, Cyril of Alexandria, and 
Ephraim of Edessa. 

Fathers of the Latin Ghnsdh, The : Origen, TertuUian, 
Clement of Rome, I^atius, Justin, Ireneeus, 
Cyprian, Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Optatus, 
Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, Prosper, 
Vincent of Lerins, Peter Chrysologus, Csesarius of 
Aries, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, ficde, 
Peter Damian, Anselm, Bernard. 


Father’s son. To be one’s : to resemble one’s father, 
morally or physic^y. [Thos. Lodge, Wounds of 
Civil War,Y, i, 11. 2213-4 Ci594)3 
Fathers, The Last of the ; see Last of the Fathers. 
Fatted Calf for . . To kill the : to welcome 
back one who has absented himself 
and returns to his old relationships 
and environment. From the parable 
of The Prodigal Son (Luke, xv, 30). 
Faxma : the animals of any given region 
or period. After Fauna, a nymph of 
the liris, near Mintuins, and the 
sister and wife of Faunus, a mythical 
ItaJ. king, afterwards deified, repre- 
sented as a Satyr and identified, with 
Pan. 

Fanntleroy, little Lord: see Little, 
Fante de inieaz (Fr., for lack of some- 
thing better) : [Lord Chesterfield, 
Letters, II, No. 175 (176Q] 

Fantenil, The (Fr., annchair) : sym- 
bolizing membership of the French 
Academy. 

Faux pas, A (Fr., false step) : a wrong 
move, leading to an awkward, or un- 
pleasant, situation ; a slip. [Wycher- 
ley, Plain Dealer, V (1676)] 
Favoxiiis : the We^ Wind, in Roman 
mythology. 

Favour, To ouiy: to seek diligently 
for approval or favourable notice. 
[Lyly, Euphues and His England 


Favourite son, A : a politician respected 
or admired in his own State, but not 
much regarded outside it. 

Faye, The way to: a crooked path. After 
the road which leads to the village of 
Faye in France. 



Fear] Ho 

Fear Babes : a bugbear. Used for 
frightening children. 

Feast one’s eyes on . . To : to gaze with 
pleasure or longing on . - 

Feast of Fools, The : a burlesque Church 
festival celebrated in the Middle Ages 
on New Year’s Day. 

Feast of Reason, A : the intercourse of 
wits and wise men. [Pope, Imitations 
of Horace, II, i (i733“7)] ^ 

Feastings Even : properly, Fastem s 
E’en fe.v.)* 

Feather, An oiled : friendliness of manner 
and address. Metaphor drawn from 
the trade of a locismith who uses an 
oiled feather to persuade a stubborn 
lock. 

Feather, Birds of a : people of similar 
character, habit, or taste. From the 
proverb, * Birds of a feather flock 
together.* 

Feather, In fall (grand ; high : fine) : 

in. excellent condition. Metaphor 
drawn from bird-life. 

Feather in one’s wing, The : the most 
valuable of one’s belongings, 
children. [R. Cumberland, The 
Fashionable Lover, 11 (1772)] 

Feather in the cap. To have a : to have 
scored a success. From the world- 
wide practice of inserting in one’s head- 
dress a feather for every enemy slain, 
or other exploit. 

Feather, Not to care a : not to care at all. 
[Sheridan, School for Scandal, III, iii 
^777)] 

Feather one’s nest, To: to make full 
provision for one’s material future. 
Metaphor drawn from bird-life. Qas. 
Howell, Familiar Letters, Bk. Ill, 
Letter xvii (1647); Greene, Frances- 
co*s Fortunes {1590)] 

Feather, To fen with a : see Fan. 

Feather, To knock down with a : so to 
surprise a person as to take him com- 
pletely off his guard. 

Feather, To show the white : to display 
cowardice. In allusion to the fact 
that a white feather in a game-bird’s 
tail is a mark of impure strain. 

Featiier-bed publicist (etc.), A : a 
publicist (etc.) who, from a position 
of comfort, criticizes those who are 
undergoing hardships. 

Feather-brained (-headed) : foolish ; 
silly. With brains metaphoriczilly as 
light as a feather. 

Fea&er-heads, The : the Republican 
supporters of President Garfield in 
New York State in his efforts for the 


[Fendble 

reform of the Civil Service. Also 
c^ed ‘ Half-breeds.* 

February face, A : a face that betokens 
worry or depression. 

February, On the 80th of : i.e,, never. 

February Fill-dyke : a popular name for 
the month of February, referring to 
the prevalence of rain or snow. 

Fedei^sts; Federals: supporters of 
the Northern States in the American 
Civil War (1861-5). An earlier 
American political party of the same 
name flourished from 1787 until about 
1812 : it was formed to support the 
Federal Constitution. 

Feed the fishes. To : see Fishes. 

Feet of . . At the : devoted to . . ; as if 
kneeling at the feet of .. 

Fee^ To carry a person 0IS his : to carry 
a person away with enthusiasm or 
excitement, so that he is temporarily 
free from the guidance of reason. 

Feet, To fell (light) on one’s : to achieve 
a successful end in spite of difficulties, 
usually with some assistance from 
good-fortune. 

Feet, To have at one’s : to have sub- 
servient to one. 

Feet, To set a person on his : to establish 
Mm, to enable him to start afresh. 
From the idea of raising a man who 
has fallen down, [Geo. Cavendish, 
Life and Death of Wolsey (1557)] 

Feet, To stand on one’s own: to be 
independent of the assistance of 
others. [Jos. Hall, Characters: A 
Happy Man (1608)] 

Fehmio Court: see Vehmgericht. 

F^libzige : a literary society, founded in 
1854, to preserve the Provencal 
language and literature. Lat., Filii 
Ecclesiae, sons of the Church. 

Fell, Doctor : see Doctor Fell. 

Fellowship Porter, A : a member of the 
Fellowship of Porters of Billingsgate, 
one of the City of London Guilds. 

Fellowship with . . To make a : to band 
together with others for mutual assis- 
tance, 

Felo de se [Low-Lot., a felon from him- 
self) : a suicide. 

Fen nightingale, A : a frog. It * sings * 
in the fens. 

Fence, To sit on the : to adopt such an 
attitude as commits one to neither 
party in a controversy. Orig. an 
Americanism. 

Fendble Regiments: regiments (1759- 
1802) liable for defensive service at 
home. 



Fenian] 141 [Field-day 

Fenian, A : a member of an Irish I Fiddle while Borne is burning. To : to 


revolutionary organization active from 
1858 to 1885. From Fene, a name of 
the Irish people, and the Fians, a 
mythical band of followers of Finn 
MacCool. 

Fezinghee, A ; an Indian name for a 
European or Eurasian. Persian, 
Farangi, a corruption of Frank. 

Ferment, To be in a : to be agitated. 

Femey, The Patriarch of : Voltaire, who 
spent the last years of his life at 
Femey, near Geneva. 

Fescennine verses : scurrilous and coarse 
verse. After Fescennia, in Etruria, 
famous for the jeering verses written 
there. 

Festive Season, The: Christmastide. 

F§te Champlt^ A {Fr., an outdoor 
entertainment) . 

Feu de Joie, A (Ff., fire of joy) : a bon- 
fire. [Bp. W. Barlow, Answer to a 
Nameless Catholic's Censure, 11 (1609)] 

Feudal System, The : the system of land- 
tenure under which the whole of the 
land of the country was vested in the 
Crown, and the actual holders were 
under obligations to perform military 
service as rent. Introduced into 
England by William the Conqueror. 

F.F.V^S : the First Families of Virginia, 
descendants of the original settlers in 
the State. After the initial letters. 

Fiacre, A (Fr., cab) : a French hackney 
cab. From the Hdtel de St. Fiacre, 
in Paris, the first station for carriages 
for hire (c. 1650). St. Fiacre (d. 670) 
is the patron of Gardeners. 

Fib, A : a falsehood of a minor character. 
An abbreviation of * fable.' [Con- 
greve, Double Dealer, IV, iii (1694)] 

nddle about (Fiddle about with . 0 * To : 
to behave (deal with) in an aimless, 
perfunctory, inefficient manner. [T. 
Wright, Passions, IV, ii § 3 (1530)] 

Fiddle, As fit as a : in excellent con- 
dition. [Wm. Haughton, Englishmen 
for My Money, IV, i (1597)] 

Fiddle, Iffie Scotch : ihe itch. From the 
resemblance between playing the 
fiddle and scratching oneself. 

Fiddle, To hang up one’s : to withdraw 
from business; to resign. 

Fiddle, To have a face as long as a : to 
have a very dismal look. 

Fiddle, To play second: to occupy a 
subordinate position. 

Fiddle when one comes home. To hang up 
one’s : to reserve one's gifts of entertain- 
ment for the amusement of strangers. 


interest oneself in trivialities, while 
events of great importance axe trans- 
piring. In allusion to the Emperor 
Nero (37-68) who is said to have con- 
tinued to amuse himself with his 
violin while his capital, Rome, was 
burning before his eyes. 

Fiddler’s fare (pay) : meat, drink and 
money. [Lewis Machin, The Dumb 
Knight, III, i (1608)] 

Fiddler’s Green, A: a sailor's ely- 
sium, composed of wine, women and 
song. 

Fiddler’s money : a threepenny-bit, the 
payment at one time made by each 
dancer to the fiddler at a party. 

Fiddler’s news : stale news ; such as 
that formerly circulated by itinerant 
fiddlers. 

Fiddle-de-dee : nonsense. [Johnson, 
in Boswell's Life (1791)] 

Fiddle-feddle : trifling ; trivial. A 
duplicative word. The earlier form 
was fiddle-cum-faddle. [BuUinger, 
Decades, 103 (1577)] 

Fiddler, As drmik as a : see Drunk. 

Fiddlesticks : nonsense. 

Fides Gttbonarii : implicit faith. A 
carbonaro being asked what he be- 
lieved, replied, ‘What the Church 
believes ' and being asked once again, 
what the Church believes, replied, 

* What I believe.' 

Fides Funica : see Punic Faith. 

Fidus Achates : see Achates. 

Field, The : (i) the riders in a hunt ; 
(2) the horses in a race ; (3) the scene 
of sports. 

Field of Blood, The : the battlefield of 
Cannae, in Italy, where in 216 B.C. 
Hannibal overwhelmed the Roman 
army. 

Field of the Cloth of Gol^ The : the 
scene in Ihe Pas-de-Calais, France, of 
the meeting between Francis I, of 
France, and Henry VIII, of England, 
in 1520, famous on account of its 
splendour. 

Field of the Forty Footsteps, The : an 
open space behind Montagu House, 
Bloomsbury, London, built over about 
1800, the legendary scene of a duel 
between two brothers on whose forty 
footprints nothing would ever grow. 
In reality a district abandoned to 
vice and crime. 

Field-day, A: a day of important or 
exciting events. Orig. the day of a 
military review. 



Field"Mar^id^s} 142 

Field-fitaishal’s baton in one^s knapsack. 

To cairy a : to liave the opportunity 
of rising to the height of one's am- 
bition. From a saying attributed to 
Napoleon : * Every French soldier 

carries in his knapsack the baton of a 
Marshal of France/ but in reality 
based on an utterance of Louis XVIII 
to the students of St, Cyr in Aug., 1819. 

Eiery Cross, To send the : to summon to 
battle. In the Scottish Highlands 
the clansmen used to be summoned to 
battle by means of a cross dipped in 
blood and sent from village to village. 

Fifteen, The : (i) the Jacobite Rebellion 
of 1715 ; (2) the Scottish Court of 
Session, consisting originally of fifteen 
judges. 

Kfteener, A : • a book printed in the 
15th century. 

Fifth Estate, The: (humorously) the 
Ladies. 

Fifth Monarchy Man, A : a member of 
an Eng. politico-religious party at the 
time of the Commonwealth which 
believed in the early establishment of 
the fifth universal monarchy with 
Christ at its head. The four previous 
monarchies were believed to be 
Assyria, Persia, Macedon, and Rome. 

Fifth whed of the coach. The : something 
quite superfluous. [Bekker, Match 
Me in London (1631)] 

Fig for . . Not to care a : to have neither 
fear nor respect for . . See Fig, To 
give the, from which phrase it is 
probably derived. 

Fig Sunday : the Sunday before Easter, 
in allusion to Christ's desire to eat the 
fruit of a fig tree on his way to 
Bethany on the day following the 
entry into Jerusalem. 

Fig to .. To give the ; to jeer at . . ; 
insult ; by thrusting the thumb 
between two fingers or into the 
mouth. A phrase of Ital. origin, said 
to have been derived from a con- 
temptuous punishment inflicted on 
the Milanese by the Emperor Frederic 
Barbarossa in 1162. 

Fig’s end, A : something worthless. 

Figs where only brambles grow. To seek : 

see Seek. 

Figaro, A ; a clever and ingenious rogue. 
After characters in Le Barbier de 
SMle and Le Mariage de Figaro, by 
Beaumarchais. 

Fight shy of . . To : to avoid conflict or 
association with . . Perhaps orig. to 
lose courage in battle. 


EPill 

Fight the tiger. To ; to gamble. An 
Americanism. 

Fight with foot and horse, To : to contend 
with the assistance of all of one’s 
forces. [Cicero, De Officiis, HI, 33 
1 16] 

Fight with shadows, To: to contend 
against imaginary opposition. 

Fight with the gloves off. To : to fight in 
earnest. A boxing metaphor. 

Fight with the gloves on. To : to fight 
in a perfunctory manner, being careful 
to do one’s adversary no damage. A 
boxing metaphor. 

Fighting chance, A : a slight chance, 
which may be brought to fruition after 
a desperate struggle. 

Fighting cock, To live like a : to live in 
the lap of luxury. Game-cocks were 
always generously fed in order to 
encourage their pugnacity. 

Fighting Fifth, The : the 5th Regt. of 
Foot, now the Northumberland 
F usiliers. On account of their prowess 
in the Peninsular War (1808-14). 

Fighting Prelate, The : Henry Spenser, 
Bp. of Norwich (d. 1406). 

Figure, To out a (fine) : to make oneself 
conspicuous : often ironically said. 
[Francis Coventry, Hist of Pompey 
the Little, ch. 9 (1751)] 

Fignre-Fiinger, A : a term of contempt 
for one who pretends to astrology, or 
foretells the future by means of figures. 
[Bacon, Wisdom of the Ancients, no. 
xviii(i6i9). 

Filbert, A : the nut of the hazel-tree. 
After St. Philibert, whose feast 
(August 22nd) is in the nutting-season. 

Fiiia Dolorosa (Lat, the grieving 
daughter) : the Duchess of Angoul8me, 
daughter of Louis XVI of France 
{1778-1851). 

Filibuster, To : to obstruct business in 
Parliament, etc., esp. on the part of a 
minority. Orig. an American political 
term. Dutch, vrijhueter, freebooter. 

FilioQue Controversy, The : a religious 
controversy between the Eastern and 
Western Churches arising out of the 
word ‘ Filioque ' {' and from the Son ’) 
in the Western version of the Nicene 
Creed. The question was whether 
the Holy Ghost proceeded from the 
Father and the Son, or from the Father 
only. 

Fill up the cup, To : to complete a 
series of offences, etc., so that at their 
conclusion a very severe punishment 
will be justified. 



FUthy] 143 

Filthy Lucre : dishonourable gain ; also 
money. [Tindale, Titus I, ii (1526)] 

Fin de Siecle end of century) : up- 
to-date ; ultra-modem. The sugges- 
tion is that civilization degenerates 
morally, intellectually, politically — 
as the end of a century approaches, to 
be revivified with the opening of a new 
century. The term originated in Paris 
about the year 1890 and was derived 
from the title of a play by IVIicard and 
de Jouvenot which was produced in 
Paris in 1888. 

Finality John : Lord John Russell, who 
always referred to the Reform Act of 
1832 as ‘ a finality.' 

Findon haddo(^ A : a haddock smoked 
with green wood. After Findon, a 
village near Aberdeen, where haddocks 
are prepared in this manner. 

Fine as fivepence, As : excellently. A 
fivepenny-piece was the ancient Saxon 
silver coin. See Fivepence. 

Fine by degrees and beautifully less: 
gradually diminishing in size. [Prior 
Henry and Emma (1718)] 

Finger in. To have a ; to have some 
interest or concern in ; to interfere in. 

[A Warning for Faire Women, II, 

U. 421-3 (1599)] 

Finger in the pie. To have a : to take part, 
esp. an officious one, in any affair. 
[Cervantes, Von Quixote, xxii ; 
Shakespeare, Henry VIII, I, i, 11 . 52-3 
(1613)] 

Finger in b^alf of ■ - To raise a : to 

make the slightest effort on behalf of . . 
[Cicero, Pro Caecina, xxv, 71] 

Finger, The Index : the first finger of 
the hand because it is used as a pointer. 

Finger, The Marriage: the finger on 
which the wedding-ring is placed. 

Finger, The Medical : the third finger of 
the hand. It was formerly beheved 
that this finger had a direct connection 
with the heart and that a noxious drug 
could not touch it without giving 
direct warning. This finger was there- 
fore used for stirring medical and other 
mixtures. 

Finger, The Ring : the third finger of 
the hand. 

i^ger. To twist round one’s (little) : to 
make subservient to one's will. [Lewis 
Machin, The Dumb Knight, II, i {1608)] 

Finger, With a wet : easily, without any 
trouble. [Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Fingers, To bum one’s : to suffer through 
interfering in other people's affairs, or 
through rash speculation. 


[Fiik 

Fingers’ ends. At one’s : of knowledge 
with which one is thoroughly ac- 
quainted. [Rabelais, Bk, IV, ch. 54 ; 
Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Fingers, To slip through the : to escape 
against all expectation. 

Fingers at . . To snap one’s : not to care 
the least about . . Snapping one's 
fingers was formerly the manner of 
summoning a slave. 

Fingers are all Thumbs : of a clumsy 
person. [Udall, Roister Voister, 1 , iii 
(1534) * Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 
Finger-tips, To the: to the minutest 
point. [Horace, A rs Poeiica, 11 . 29 1-4] 
Finger-tips, With the : faint-heartedly ; 
reluctantly. 

Finger-tips, To stand on one’s : to be 
proud. 

Fingle-fangle : something unimportant 
or fantastic. 

Finishing school, A : a school at which 
young ladies are taught social deport- 
ment preparatory to their admission 
into society. 

Fire, To take oil to extinguish the : see 
Take. 

Fire and water. To go through : to under- 
go hardships and difficulties. In 
allusion to the ordeals by fixe and 
water. [Shakespeare, Merry Wives of 
Windsor, III, iv, 109-11 (1598-9] 
A military metaphor. 

Fixe in one hand and water in the other. 
To carry : to say one thing and mean 
another. [He3rwood, Proverhes (1546) ] 
Fire, To go &rough the : to experience 
trouble or anxiety. In allusion to the 
ordeal in the fiery furnace of Shadrach, 
Meshach and Abednego. [Daniel, iii] 
Fires, Between two : faced by alternative 
difficulties. 

Fire water : alcoholic spirits. AnAmeri- 
can-Indian term. 

Firebrand, A : one who causes excite- 
ment and disturbance. In allusion to 
a piece of wood kindled at the fire. 
[Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, 
II, ii (1606-7)] 

Firebrand of the Universe, The ; Timur 
Tamerlane {1336-1405), the Tartar 
Conqueror. 

Fire drake, A : a fiery dr^on, a man 
always prone to fight. 

Fire-eater, A : a fire-drake 
Fire-eaters, The : extreme supporters of 
the claims of the Southern States 
before the outbreak of the Civil War. 
Firk of law : a legal quibble or trick. [Ram 
Alley in Dodsley, Old Plays, V, 467] 



Firm] 


144 


[BiidiJng 


Firm as hodge-wife, As : see Hodge-wife. 

First 1)0111 of Egypt, The : according to Br. 
Johnson, people of aristocratic birth. 

First catch your hare : see Hare. 

First cause, The great : according to the 
students of evolution, God. [Pope, 
Universal Prayer (1738)] 

First Chxistiaii kingdom, The : France. 

First firnits i the first production of 
animal or vegetable; the earliest 
results of one's efiorts ; a tax repre- 
senting the first year's income; 
formerly an ofiering consisting of the 
fiist production of the harvest. 

First Ottoman of Europe, The : 
George IV (1762-1830), king of Eng- 
land. So-called by his admirers. 

First Grenadier of Fraaoe, The : 
Theophilus de Latour d'Auvergne 
(1743-1800). So-called by Napoleon. 

First of June, The glorious : the anm- 
versary of tiie naval battle in 1794 tn 
which the French were defeat^ by 
Lord Howe off Ushant. 

First rate : (orig. a nautical term) of the 
highest degree of excellence. In 
allnsion to a warship of the highest 
rating. ^ ^ 

First water, A diamond of the: see 
Diamond. 

Fish to kite. To teach a : see Teach. 

Fiidi that comes to his All is : what- 
ever comes along is welcome and 
made use of. 

Fij^ for compliments. To : to pay a 
compliment in the expectation of 
receiving a greater one in return. 

J jane Austen, Mansfield Park, ch, 29 

ht ^ eats no : he is n^ a Papist 
(XT Xtornan Catholic and is thereiore 
to be trusted. The phrase dates 
from the time of Queen Elizabeth 
when aU Eoxnan Catholics were under 
susmdon. 

Fish of one and flesh of another. To 
Ttittirfl : to make unjustifiable dis- 
tinctions. [Jonathan Swift, PoUie 
ConversaHon, Dial, ii (1738)] 

Fish, flesh nor fowl, nor good hcnii^ 
Neither : without the particular 
qualities of one thing or the other. 
Derived from a proverb current in 
the i6th cent. Other forms of the 
phrase are ' Neither fish nor flesh,* 
^Neitherfishnorfowl.' Thesuggested 
ftihigiona are fish (food for the monks), 
flesh (for the laity generally), red 
herring (for the poorer classes). 
[Heyu-ood. Proverhes (1546) ; Roy, 


Rede me and be not Wrothe, I. iii 
(155*8)] 

Fish to fry. To have other: to have 
other business to attend to. 

Fish with a golden hook. To : to offer 
bribes. [Suetonius, De Vita Cee- 
sarum : Augustus Octavianus, 25 ; 
Arth. Brooke, Tragical History of 
Romeus and Juliet (1562)] 

Fish to the Hdlespont, To send : to 
perform a work of supererogation. 

Fi^ A loose : a person of loose habits. 
Fldi in the middle of the ooeon. To go 
Bfttting for : to do something foolish 
or unprofitable. [Plautus, A sin aria, 

1. lOO-l] 

Fish, A pretty (nice) kettle of : amuddle. 
The phrase is probably derived from 
the kettle or kiddle-nets which when 
dx&m from the water, full of fidi, 
famish an excellent illustration of 
flurry, confusion, disorder and muddle. 
[Samuel Richardson, Pamela, III, 
308 (1741)] 

Fish, A queer:' a cunous person, not 
altogether to be understood. 

F!d 4 To cry stiiiking : see Stinking. 

Fish story, A: a grossly exaggerated 
and practically invent^ story; like 
the proverbial tales told by amateur 
fishermen of their catches. 

Fish hi tronhled waters. To: to seek 
one's own advantage in other people's 
troubles. Ftom the French. [La 
Fontaine, Contes et Nouvelles : Belph- 
ggor (1665)] 

Film out of water, A : a person who is 
uncomfortable because he is out of 
his element. [Wycliffe, English 
Works, p. 449 (14th cent.) ; Chaucer, 
Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, 
177 (14th cent.)] 

Fish wdl and catdi a frog. To : to obtain 
little result after great effort. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Fishes; To fised the : (1) to be drowned ; 
(2) to be sea-sick. 

FliUi^ To make clothes for : sssMake. 

FLdidll^, A: a fast day. A day on 
which fish instead of meat is eaten. 

Fisher of men, A : one who preys upon 
humanity. fCowl^, Essays ; Dangers 
of an Honest Man (17th cent.)] 

Flidier of souls. The great : the DeviL 

Asher’s Folly : a fishing or shooting 
box. [Braith'wait, Survey of History 

Fl^ii^ question, A : a question intended 
to elicit information on which further 
questions may be based. 



Hshy] 145 tPlaader 


Fishy: doubtful, subject to suspicion. 
Perhaps as slippery as a fish. See 
also Ksh Story, A. 

Fishy Story, A: a story that arouses 
doubt or suspicion. See Fishy. 

Fust; To be brou^t to : to be compelled 
to fight, phatterley Mannion, The 
Antiquary, TV, i (1641)] 

Fst, To wiite a good (bad) : to be a good 
(bad) calligrapher. [Udall, Ralph 
Roister Doister, III, v, 1 . 48 (1550)] 

Fit : in good health and spirits. 
[Hamlet V, ii (1602-3;] 

Fit as a fiddle. As: sss Fiddle. 

Fit as a IMdleir, As : in excellent con- 
dition. Probably ‘ Fiddler ' was intro- 
duced merdy for alliteration. 

Fit as a pudding for a Friar’s mouth, As : 
appropriate ; welcome. [Fulwell, 
Like will to Like, 212 (1568)] 

Fits and starts. By : spasmodically. 

Fittest, Survivid of the : phrase coined 
1 ^ Herbert Spencer [Principles of 
Biology^ § 164 (1864)] to express 
the results of the straggle for existence. 

Five aUs, The : a publichouse si^ 
consist^ of a king in his regalia 
(I govern all), a bi^op in his vest- 
ments (I pray for all), a lawyer in h^ 
gown (I plead for aU), a soldier in his 
uniform (1 fight for ah), a labourer 
with his tools (I pay for all). 

Five-ndnnte danse, A : a clause, some- 
times inserted in a deed of separation, 
to the effect that if the parties r em ai n 
together for five minutes after the 
de^ has been signed it wiU become 
null and void. 

Five Nations, The : the five tribes that 
comprised the Iroquois coniedexs^. 

Five per cent paiEiotism: patriotism 
which displays itself in remunerative 
investments. In allusion to the five 
per cent. War Loan raised to finance 
Great Britain during the European 
War of 1914-19x8. 

Five senses. The : sight, hearing, smell, 
taste and touch. 

Five wits. The : commonsense, imagina- 
tion, fantasy, estimation and memory. 

Flvepenoe^ As fine as: emphatically 
fine. [ItB., Appius and Virginia, 
1 . 161 (1563)] See Fine. 

Fiver, A : a five-pound note. 

Fix, Tobexna: tobeina difficulty. 

Flabbergasted, To be : to be astounded 
and confused. Appeared first in 1772 
as fashionable slang. [Annual 
Register: On new words (1772)] 

Flag, A blade : the emblem of piracy. 


Flag day, A : a day set apart for money 
collections in the street on behalf of 
some diaritable institution, after the 
little fiags with which donors are 
presented to wear in their button- 
holes. 

Flag, To get one’s : to be promoted to 
the yft'nlc of admiral, and thus be 
entitled to fly one's flag. 

Flag hftif mast high : an embl^n of 
monming. 

Flag, To hang ihe red : to issue a defiance. 
The Red Flag was the Roman battle 

si gnal. 

Flag. To hang the ydlow : to announce 
the presence of contagious illness. 
Frpm the signal used on such occasions 
on* board ship. 

Flag, To hoist &e white : to surrender, 
to admit defeat. Ftom the flag of 
truce, raised by one of the pames 
to a fight when a cessation of hostilities, 
temporary or permanent, is desired. 

Fto, To lower one’s: to submit to, 
to surrender. A nautical term. 

Flag rank : naval rank not lower than 
that of commodore, entitiing the 
holder to ^ his flag. 

Flag, To strike the: to give up one's 
office or command. A nautied term. 

Flag, To nntol the black: to declare 
war. The Moslem flag is blade, f.s., 
the cdonr of the curtain that hnng 
before the door of Ayediah, Mahomet's 
favourite wife, which was taken as 
the battle-flag of his followers. See 
also Flag, a black. 

Flag, The yeBow : the signal used to 
announce the existence of contagious 
disease. 

Flagellants : members of a reL sect 
who in the 13th and Z4th cents, 
taught that flogging was a virtae and 
rel. duty. 

Flf^eHiun Dei [Lot., The Scourge of 
God) : Attila, King of the Huns. 

Flagrante Ddicto {Lot., while the 
offence is flagrant): caught in the 
very act. 

Flame, A {Lat.,flamma, love) : a sweet- 
heart; prob. from the burning passion 
of love. [Cowley, Mistress (1647)]. 

Flanders rabies : wooden doUs. 

Flanden; To pass over the sandbanks of : 
to pass saf dy through a difficulty. In 
to the sandbanks at the 
mouths of the Sdieldt and the Mew 
which difficulty to Spa nish 

navigators. [Cervantes, Bon ^ixoU, 

n, 21] 


X. 



Flank] 

Flank of • . To tom fho : to circiimvent 
a person. A military metaphor. 

ElanziA A : a Welshman ; in s^nsion to 
the manuiactiire of flannel in Wales. 
[Shakespeare, M^rry Wives of Windsor, 
V, V. 172 (1598-9)] ^ ^ 

Flajmolled fodls : mdividnals who devote 
an undue amount of time to sport, t.e., 
in wearing flannel suits. Phrase 
coined by Rudyard Kipling. \Thd 
Islanders (1902)] 

Flappati A : a girl of about 16 ca 17. 
Perhaps in allusion to the flapping of 
their plaits of hair as they move 
rapidly. 

Flaie upt Asa sudden flt of anger, like 
a flare or blaze of fire. 

Fla^; a shallow, showy pemon or 
behaviour, like a sudden, brief flash 
of light. 

Flash : counterfeit. In allusion to the 
glitter of cheap flash jeweUery, also to 
Flash, a district in the North Midlands 
frequented by swindling hawkers. 

FUudi m ff" s dishonest sporting men. 
See aXso Flash. 

Flash notes : false bank notes. 

mnah in the pan, A : a failure after a 
well>advertised pr^aration. In allu- 
sion to a gun that faius to explode when 
fired. 

Flashy : en^ty but showy. See Fl as h. 

Flat as a Eloonder, As : flattened out ; 
depressed. [Beaumont and Fletdier, 
Women Pleased, II. iv (1620)] 

Flat as a Fancail^ As : dull. [Henry 
Porter, Two Angry Women ofAbington, 
IL 1 127-9 (1599) ; Middleton and 
Dekker, Roaring Girl, II, i (1611)] 

Flat, To fiaU : (of a play, etc.) to prove 
unattractive. 

Flattering imotioii to yooi soul. Lay not 
t ha t : do not lull yourself into a state 
of &dse security by means of that 
supposition. [Shakespeare, Handel, 
Ilf, iv (1602-3)] 

Flax to the Bre ; a ready cause of 
excitement. [Heywood, Proverhes 

(154Q3 

Flea in one’s ear. To go away with a : 
to suffer a sudden and quite unexpected 
reproof or rebuff. [Rabelais, Pcmta- 
gruel. III, ch. vii (i 533 ) i Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Flea-hite, A mere : a trouble or annoy- 
ance of very slight consequence. 
[Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

FImo^ To : to cheat a person as a sheep 
is deprived of its fleece. [Nashe, 
Christens Teares (1593)] 


46 [Flinoh 

Fleet Book evidence : no evidence. The 
books of the Fleet Prison could not be 
produced in proof of a marriage. 

Fleet of the Desert, A : a caravan. 

Fleet Marriages : secret or hasty 
marriages, celebrated in the Fleet 
Prison by clergymen of doubtful 
reputation. These marriages were 
brought to an end by the Marriage 
Act of 1754. 

Fleet Street: the London newspaper 
world. The oflices of most of the 
principal London newspapers are in or 
about Fleet Street 

Flemish Account, A : an account that 
shows an unwelcome deficit. In 
allusion to the value of an Antwerp 
Hvre or pound, vix., 12s. 

Flesh, After the : resembling in physical 
appearance. 

Flem creep. To make one’s ; to make one 
nervous and expectant of evil. 

Fleidi one’s sworA To: to use one's 
sword for the first time. [Thos. 
Hughes, Misfortunes of Arthur, II, ii 
{ 1 ^ 7)1 

Piwb, way of all: death. In 
allusion to * the way of all the earth.* 
[Joshua, xxiii, 14; He3rwood, The 
Golden Age (1611)] 

Fleshly School, The : a nineteenth cent, 
school of Rng. poets — Swinburne, 
William Morris, D. G. Rossetti and 
others — so-called by Robert Buchanan 
(' Thos. Maitland ’) in the Contemporary 
Review of October, 1871. 

Fleriipots of Egypt, The : good things of 
this world formerly at one’s disposal, 
but no longer so. [Exodus, xvi, 3] 

Eleur de Luce : Fleur de Lys (^.v.). 

Fleur de Lys (Ids) : the royal insig^ of 
France, the heraldic lily, the iris. 

Flibbertigibbet: an idle chalterer; the 
name of a devil in Shakespeare, King 
Lear, and of a character in Sir W. 
Scott, Kenilworth. The fiend was 
invented by the Jesuits about the 
time of the Span. Armada. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (154^] 

Flighty, To be : to be frivolous, esp. of 
a girl. 

Film fhun : nonsense ; a trifle. A 
duplication of flam, a lie. [Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Flimsy, A : a bazik note ; in allusion to 
the thinness of its paper. 

Flinch one’e To : to avoid empty- 
ing one's glass. Flinch, to draw bade. 
[Arbuthnot, History of John BuU, 
Pt. II, ch. 6 (1713)] 



Fling] 147 

Fling at, To liave a : to gibe at. {Wily 
Beguiled, 11. 423-4 (1592)] 

Fling oneself at someone’s head. To : to 
place oneself unreservedly at the 
disposal of ; (in afiairs of the 
heart) for a woman to make unmis- 
takable advances without securing her 
retreat. 

Fling, To have one’s : to pursue pleasure 
singlemindedly until satisfied. [Beau- 
mont and Fletcher, Rule a Wife, III, v 
(1624)] 

Flint, To bleed (skin) the : of a miser, to 
be exacting to the last farthing. 
[Rob. Greene, Menaphoyt (1589)] 

Flint, A heart of : see Heart. 

Flint against . . To set one’s face like a : 
to be rigidly averse from . . [Bunyan, 
Pilgrim's Progress, Pt. I (1678)] 

Flintlock, A ; an obsolete kind of hand- 
gun which was fired by means of a 
flint attached to the hammer. 

Flirt, To : to make love or be coquettish 
without serious intention. Orig. to 
flit inconstantly from one object to 
another. According to Lord Chester- 
field (z 694-1 773) first used by Lady 
Frances Shirley early in the i8th cent. 

The term is apparently derived from 
that of flirting, or rnoving with a 
quick sharp motion, a fan. 

Floaters : in Amer. politics, voters not 
attached to either party and open 
for purchase. 

Flog a dead horse. To : to attempt to 
revive an interest that has passed 
away. 

Flood, To take . . at the : to make the 
most of an opportunity, like a vessel 
using a flood to assist its progress. 
[Shaiespeare, Julius Ccesar, IV, iii 
{1601)] 

Floor, To : a sporting metaphor, to 
knock to the floor ; to confound ; to 
nonplus. 

Floorer, A : that which floors. See 
Floor, To. 

Flora : the vegetables of a certain 
district or period. After Flora, the 
goddess of flowers. 

Florence, The German : Dresden. 

Florence of the North, The : Dresden. 

Florimel from the false. To distingoi^ the 
true : to recognize one’s true aflinity in 
contrast to temporary attractions. In 
allusion to Florimel, a damsel- 
character in Spenser, Faerie Queen, 

Bks. Ill and IV (1590-6). 

Florimel’a Girdle : the test of chastity and 
true wifehood. In allusion to the 


[Flutter 

cestus or girdle of Venus and to 
Florimel, the t37pe of virgin modesty 
in Spencer, Faerie Queen, Bks. III. 
and IV. (1590-6). 

Florin, A : a coin of varying value in 
different periods and countries. In 
allusion to Florence in which city it 
was introduced. 

Flos Regnum {Lat, the Flower of Kings): 
King Arthur. So-called by John of 
Exeter. 

Flotsam and jetsam : orig. a legal term : 
wreckage floating on the sea and cast 
ashore; odds and ends. 

Flower of Chivalry, The : (i) Sir Philip 
Sidney (1554-1586); (2) William 

Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale (c. 
1300-53) ; (3) Chevalier de Bayard 

(1476-1524). 

Flower of Fishes, The: the grey ling. 
So-called by Isaac Walton. 

Flower of the flock. The: the flower of 
the garland {q,v.). 

Flower of the garland, The fairest : the 
most beautiful or choicest member of 
the party. [Heywood, Proverhes 

{1546)] 

Flower of Kings, The : Arthur. So- 
called by John of Exeter. 

Flower of the Levant, The : the Island of 
Zante. In allusion to its beauty and 
bounteous products. 

Flower of one’s age. The : early manhood. 
[Tyrtaeus, Vli, 29 ; Virgil, Eclogues, 
VII, 11. 4-5 ; A Complaint of the Losse 
of Libertie by Loue, 11. 17-8 (1557)] 

Flower of the Poets, The : Geoffrey 
Chaucer (1328-1400). 

Flowers, A Battle of : see Battle. 

Flowers of Rhetoric : flowers of speech 
(q.v.), [Dunbar, Golden Targe (1508)] 

Flowers of Speech : ornaments of speech. 

Flowery Sngdom, The : one of the 
native names for China. Property the 
Flower of -Kingdoms. 

Fluke, By a : by a piece of luck. Orig. 
a billiard term. 

Flummery : empty flattery ; properly a 
sweet dish made of milk, eggs, etc. 
[Peter Pindar, Subjects for Painters : 
The Soldier ayid the Virgm Mary 
(i8th cent.)] 

Flummux, To : to confound ; to nonplus. 

Flush of money : with plenty of money. 
[Dekker, Batchelor's Bayiquet, ch. viii 
{1603)] 

Elute, To teach a pig to play on a : see 
Teach. 

Flutter, A : a venture in earnest ; a 
small gamble or bet. 



Flutter] 

Flutter the dovecots. To : to cause a mild 
excitement in society. [Shakespeare, 
Coriolanus, V, vi, Ii6 (1607)] 

Flux, To be in a : to be in a state of 
uncertainty or fluctuation. [Bacon, 
Essay es : Of Vicissitudes of Things 
V1625)] 

Fly, To be : to be wideawake. 

Fly in amber, h • something surprisingly 
out of place, like the flies occasionally 
found imbedded in amber. 

Fly on the coach-wheel, A : a person of 
little consequence who considers him- 
self of great importance. From one of 
iBsop's Fables, later popularized by 
La Fontaine in his fable, Le Coche et 
la Mouche, 

Fly into an elephant. To change a : see 
Change. 

Fly in the fece of . . To : to oppose ; to 
attempt to prevent; rashly to seek 
danger. [Francis Coventry, History of 
Pompey the LitOe, ch. 5 (i75i)] 

Fly high, To : to nurse an extravagant 
ambition. 

Fly a kite. To : (i) to borrow money by 
means of accommodation bills; (2) 
to write a begging letter. 

Fly at . . To let ; to strike at. A cock- 
fighting metaphor. 

Fly-by-night, A : a person who decamps 
in the night, generally to avoid lus 
creditors ; a sedan chair on wheels, in 
use at the beginning of the 19th cent. 

Fly, To rise to file : to be taken in ; to 
be deceived. 

Fly, To take a spear to kill a : see Take. 

Fly on the whe A To crush a : to devote 
much energy to little purpose. 

Flying colours, To come off with ; to 
score a public success. 

Elding Dutchman, The : a spectre ship 
supposed by superstitious seamen to 
haunt the seas around the Cape of 
Good Hope. The legend was the 
subject of an opera by Wagner, Der 
Fliegende HoUaender, and of a novel by 
Frederick Mairyat, The Phantom Ship 
(1839). 

Flying ^es. To talk of: to tell 
travellers’ tales, i.e., tales based for 
the most part on the imagination. 

Fobbed off, To be : to be put ofl under 
false pretences. [Shakespeare, 2 
ir.n. 1,37(1597-8)] 

Foeman worthy of one s steel, A : a 
competitor whose qualities necessitate 
the employment of all one’s powers in 
the contest. [Scott, Lady of the Lake 


148 [Foolosopher 

Fogey, An old [Scot., an old invalid or 
garrison soldier) : an old-fashioned 
person. 

Fogmm, An old : an old fogey (q.v.). 
[R. Cumberland, The Mysterious 
Husband, I, i (1783)] 

Follower, A : a man who courts a maid- 
servant. [Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, 
ch. XV (1838)] 

Folly, To fill up the measure of one’s : 
to complete the sum of one’s foolish- 
ness. [Matthew, xxiii, 32; Genesis, 

XV, 16] 

Folly as it flies. To shoot : to detect folly 
as soon as it shows itself. [Pope, 
Essay on Man, Epistle I, 9 (1732-4)] 
Fons et (^0 [Lat., fountain and origin) : 
the original cause. 

Food for Acheron : see Pabulum 
Acherontis. 

Fool for one’s pains, A : one who labours 
to no purpose. 

Food for powder : recruits for the army. 
[Shakespeare, i Henry IV, IV, ii 

(1596-7)1 

Food for worms : a dead body. [Rob. 

Amim, A Nest of Ninnies (1608)] 
Fool in Christendom, The most le^ed 
(wisest) : James I of England, so- 
called by Henri IV of France, who, 
however, himself derived the term 
from the Due de SuUy. 

Fool’s chair, A : a chair with a leg 
missing, on which fools attempt to sit 
and consequently fall. 

Fools Day, All : see April Fool. 

Fool’s errand, A : a profitless under- 
taking. [Swift, Polite Conversation, 
Dial. I {1738)] 

Fools, FeaOT of : see Feast. 

Fool’s Fire : the will-o’-the-wisp. 

Fool’s Paradise, A : a state of happiness 
or satisfaction resting on no r^able 
basis. [The Poston Letters (1462)] 
According to the Schoolmen, one 
of the divisions of the region which 
was on the outskiits of paradise was 
Limbus Fatuorum or the * Border * 
of Fools. 

Foolish as a Daw, As : in the i6th cent, 
a * daw * was a silly, chattering person. 
[Trial of Treasure, 1. 344 (1567)] 
Foolish as a Woodcock, As : in allusion 
to the proverbial foolishness of wood- 
cocks. [Bacon, Works {1564)] 
Foolometer, A : a pretended standard of 
meeisurement of folly. 

Foolosopher, A : a foolish pretender to 
philosophy. [Chaloner. Erasm. 
Morice Enconium. (1549)] 



Foolscap] 149 

Foolscap : a size of paper. From the 
fool’s cap which orig. served as the 
watermark, said to have been intro- 
duced by Sir John Spielmann or 
Spiiman, a German who built a paper 
mill at Dartford in 1580. Also possi- 
bly a corruption of (Ital.) foglio capo, 
folio-sized sheet. 

Foot it, To : to pay an account ; lit., to 
pay the amount stated at the foot. 

Foot, To show the cloven : see Cloven 
hoof. 

Foot in. To get one’s : to get accustomed 
to an occupation. 

Foot in the grave. To have one : to be 
very ill ; to be near death. The 
phrase is attributed to the Emperor 
Julian (331-63). [Lucian, Apologia, I ; 
Massinger and Field, Fatal Dowry 
{1632) ; Thos. Lodge, Rosalind {1590)] 

Foot by one’s own Last, To measure 
another’s : to judge another by one’s 
own standard. 

Foot, To know the length of one’s : to 
discover a person’s weaknesses so as 
to be able to manage him. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580)] 

Foot down, To put one’s : to repress 
firmly, to adopt a determined atti- 
tude. 

Foot foremost. To put one’s best : to 
throw oneself energetically into an 
undertaking. [Shakespeare, King 
John, IV, ii (1596)] 

Foot in it. To put one’s : to make a 
blunder. The phrase is said to be an 
abbreviation of ' The bishop has put 
his foot in it,’ used when soup or milk 
is burnt. The cook is supposed to have 
neglected her duty in order to run out 
and see the bishop pass. Tyndale 
gave another explanation : ‘ If the 

pottage be burnt . . we say the Bishop 
hath put his foot in the pot, or the 
Bishop hath played the cook. Because 
the Bishops bum who they lust and 
whosoever displeases them.’ [Obedietwe 
of a Crysten Man (1528)] 

Foot in, To get one’s : to make oneself 
acquainted with the task to be under- 
taken. 

Football of fortune, A : a plaything of 
fortune; a person who is apparently 
subject to the whims of chance and 
has no control over his own fortunes. 

Footing, To be on a good : to have a good 
reputation. The translation of a 
French phrase. 

Footing, To pay one’s : to pay (not 

necessarily in money) for admission 


[Form 

into a circle, profession, etc. Properly, 
to pay for one’s footing. 

Footlights, The : the stage ; in allusion 
to the row of lights at the edge of the 
stage level with the feet of the 
performers. 

Footman’s Inn : a poor lodging. 
[Pen'riiles Parliament of Threed-bare 
Poets {1608)] 

Footpad, A : an unmounted highway 
robber, whose boots were originally 
padded so as to deaden the sound of 
his approach. 

Forbidden fruit : unlawful indulgence. 
An allusion to the fall of Adam and 
Eve in the garden of Eden. 

Forbidden Land, The : Thibet, from 
which country aU foreigners were 
rigidly excluded. 

Force the hand. To : to compel a person 
to show his case or to take action which 
he would prefer to defer. A whist- 
playing metaphor. 

Forced march, A : a march in which 
troops are compelled to exert them- 
selves beyond the ordinary limit of 
endurance. A military term. 

Forefathers’ Day : December 21st, ob- 
served in the New England States as 
the anniversary of the landing of the 
Pilgrim Fathers. 

Foreign Office, The : the British dept. 

■ of state which deals with foreign 
afiairs. 

Forest Cantons, The : the cantons of 
Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, and Unter- 
walden, in the Swiss Federation, 

Forest City, The : Cleveland, Ohio. In 
allusion to its numerous trees. 

Forest of Pools, The : the world. [Dekker, 
GulVs Horn Book (1609)] 

Forfeits in a barber shop : see Barber 
shop. 

Forget-me-nots of the angels, The : 
stars. [Longfellow, Evangeline (1847)] 

Fork, To pass under the : to admit defeat. 
In allusion to the fork or yoke at 
Caudi under which the Roman army 
had to pass on the occasion of their 
defeat in 3^1 B.C. 

Forked radish, A : man. [Shakespeare, 
2 Henry IV, III, ii (1597-8)] 

Forlorn Hope, A : (Dutch, verloren hoop, 
lost troop) (i) a small body of troops 
used as a sacrifice to gain an advantage 
for the main army ; (2) a task practi- 
cally impossible of ful&ment. [Ton- 
stall, Sermons (1539)] 

Form, Bad (Good) : see Bad (Good) 
form. 



Forma] 150 

Forma pauperis, In (La/,, in the guise of a 
pauper) : of a suitor too poor to 
engage counsel. 

Fortiter in re (Lat) : determined in 
action. 

Fortuitous concourse of atoms, A : an 
accidental collection of objects. First 
used by Richard Bentley (1692) : 
applied by the Quarterly Review to Sir 
Robert Peel's Administration (LIII, 
p. 270). [Cicero, De Natura Deoruin, 

Bk. II, 37] 

Fortunate Islands, The ; Islands of the 
Blest, The : orig. mj^hical islands in 
the Atlantic, the abode of the supreme- 
ly happy. When the Canary Islands 
were discovered the name was at- 
tached to them. 

Fortunatus’ purse: the purse whose 
contents are never exhausted. After 
the medieval legend of Fortunatus. 

Fortunatus’ wishing cap : the hat which 
transports the wearer to any destin- 
ation he wishes. From the medieval 
legend of Fortunatus. 

Fortune, Bame : the personification of 
fortune or luck. 

Fortune hunter, A : a person who seeks 
to marry an heiress for her money. 

See the comedy of that title by J. 
Carlisle (1689). 

’Forty-five, The : the Jacobite Rebellion 
of 1745-6. 

Fortyniners, The : the argonauts of 
'Forty-nine {q,v.). 

Forty stripes save one : the Thirty-nine 
Articles. 

Forty winks : a short sleep, esp, after 
dinner. 

Forum, A : a place or opportunity for 
public discussion. In allusion to the 
Forum, the place at Rome where 
public business was transacted. 

Forward, To he : to be the opposite of 
difBdent or retiring. 

Forwards, Marshal: name borne by 
Marshal Blucher (1742-1819) during 
the campaign of 1813. In allusion to 
his continual exhortations to his 
troops to advance. ^ 

Foul of - . To fall : to come into collision 
with . . A nautical metaphor. [Sir 
Thos. Overbury, Netves from Sea 

(1613)] 

Foul Fiend, The : Satan. 

Foul play : unfair play ; treachery. 
[Lyly, Euphues (1579)] 

Foul weather Jack : Admiral John Byron 
(1723-86). In allusion to his ill-luck 
at sea. 


[Fourth 

Founder of the Fathers of € 9 uistian 
Doctrine, The : Caesar de Bus (1544- 
1607). 

Fountain-head, To go to the : to go to 
the original source. [T. Waishington, 
Transl. of Nicholay*s Voyages, I, viii 

(1585)] 

Fountain of human liberty. The : know- 
ledge, according to Daniel Webster. 

Fountain of life, The : Alexander of 
Hales (d. 1245), Eng. theologian and 
philosopher. 

Fountain of Youth, The : a mythical 
spring which is supposed to give those 
who bathe in it perpetual youth. It 
has been located at different times in 
many places. 

Four Apprentices (Prentices), The : four 
mythical heroes, Godfrey, Grey, 
Charles and Eustace, sons of an Earl 
of Boloign, who, rejecting trade for 
war, performed prodigies of valour in 
the Holy Land and elsewhere. Their 
exploits are narrated in The Foure 
Prentises of London : With the Con- 
quest of Jerusalem (1615). 

Four-bottle man, A : a man who 
customarily drinks four bottles of 
wine at a sitting. 

Four in hand, A : coach with four horses. 

Four Hundred, The : the ^lite of New 
York society. 

Four walls, Within : see Walls. 

Fours, On all : in complete agreement. 

Fours, To go on all : to proceed on hands 
and feet like a quadruped. 

Fourierism : a scheme for the organiz- 
ation of mankind in small communities, 
invented by Frangois Charles Marie 
Fourier (1772-1837). 

Fourteen hundred : the cry uttered on 
the London Stock Exchange when the 
presence of a stranger is detected. It 
is supposed to be derived from the fact 
that the number of members of the 
Exchange was for long limited to 1399. 

Fourth dimension. The : a supposed or 
assumed dimension whose relation to 
the recognized dimensions of length, 
breadth, and thickness is analogous to 
that borne by any one of these to the 
other two. The conception has been 
used to explain certain super-physical 
phenomena, which seem otherwise 
inexplicable. 

Fourth Estate, The : the Press. The 
suggestion, made by Edmund Burke, 
is Ihat its power is greater than that 
of the three estates of the realm. See 
also Estates. 



Fourth] 151 

Fourth of July. The: the day of the 
declsiration of American Independence 
in 1776, observed as a nationsd holiday 
in the United States. 

Fourth Party, The: a party in the 
House of Commons consisting of 
Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry 
Drummond Wolff, Sir John Gorst 
and Mr. Arthur J. Balfour, active 
during the Pari, of 1880. The other 
three parties were the Conservative, 
Liberal and Irish. 

Four-wheeler, A : a four wheeled 
haclmey carriage, distinguished from 
a hansom cab (two wheels). 

Pox, An old : (i) a good blade ; after 
the design of a fox, which was once 
customarily engraved, as a sort of 
trade-mark, on the best Toledo and 
other blades ; (2) a sly person. 

[Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, 
III, iii, 71-3 (1598-9) .* Letter of 
Queen Elizabeth to James VI of 
Scotland (June, 1585)] 

Pox, The old : Marshal Soult (1769- 
1851), so c^ed on account of his 
strategic gifts. 

Pox that has lost his tail, A : a person 
who having himself met with mis- 
fortune endeavours to involve others 
in similar troubles. From the fable 
of the fox, which having lost his own 
tail, tries to persuade his fellows to 
sacrifice theirs. 

Pox’s sleep, A : pretended indifference 
to what is transpiring. In allusion 
to the proverbial cunning of the fox. 
Poxes to the plough. To yoke: to act 
foolishly and to no piurpose. 

Francis’s distemper, St, : impecuniosity. 
The members of the Order of St. 
Francis are vowed to poverty. 

Pranc-tireur, A (Fr,, free-shooter) : an 
irregular soldier, esp. on the French 
side during the Franco-Prussian War 
of 1870-1. 

Prank, A : a European in Turkey and 
other Moslem lands; from France. 
The term originated in the period of 
the Crusades and was first applied 
to the French only. 

Prank pledge : the system of common 
responsibility for each individual 
member of a body. 

Frankenstein, A : (i) one overpowered 
by his own creation ; (2) the monster 
of one's own creation whidj over- 
powers. After the title of a novel 
(1818) by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin 
(Shelley) (i797“i85i). 


[Free 

Prankum’s night. A: a night in June 
fatal to apple or pear blossom ; from 
the story of Frankum who offered 
a sacrifice in order to secure esp. 
favourable weather for his orchard 
but was cursed by a blight instead. 

Prazrie, Beat to a : beaten to ribbons 
or fragments, 

Freddy, A pretty : a swell ; a dandy. 

Free as air. As : [Marston, The Insatiate 
Count (1613)] 

Free as the sun. As : [Dekker, The 
Honest Whore (1604)] 

Free Breakfast Table, A : a fiscal 
system in which no import duties 
are levied on tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar, 
and other common articles of diet. 
The phrase was coined by John 
Bright, Eng. statesman and orator 
(1811-1889) in an address to the 
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce in 
1868. 

Free Church, A : an independent church, 
esp. the I^esb3^. Church that seceded 
from the Est. Church of Scotland in 
1893. (Th® Free Kirk). 

Free lurches. The : the Eng. Nonconf. 
Churches. 

Free Company, A : a band of mercenary 
soldiers, available for hire by any 
ruler or state. 

Free and easy, A : a social gathering 
at which one is freed from the trammels 
of society conventions. [Lister, 
Journey to Paris, 41 (1699)] 

Friw fight, A : a mel6e in which every 
man's hand is against everyone. 

Free hand. To have a : to be untram- 
melled. To have full liberty of 
action. 

Free house, A : a public-house not 
“ tied " or bound to purchase its 
beer from any particular brewer. 

Free Kirk, The : see Free Church. 

Free labour : labour unattached to any 
Trade Union. 

Free lance, A : (i) a member of a Free 
Company (^.v.) ; (2) a person unattach- 
ed to any party, class, etc. ; (3) a 
journalist unattached to any periodical 
but contributing to several. 

Free with. To ms&e : to take liberties 
with. 

Free Soilers : an Amer. polit. party in 
the middle of the 19th cent., formed 
to oppose the extension of slavery 
to the Territories. Merged in 1854 
in the Republican Party. 

Free Stnte, The: those states of the 
American Union in which slavery had 



152 


Free] 

been abolished prior to the outbreak 
of the Civil War of i86i. 

Free Trade : the principle of the inter- 
change of commodities between differ- 
ent states, unhindered by customs 
duties, except for purposes of revenue. 
Free Trade, The Apostle of: Rich. 
Cobden (1804-1865). 

Freeman, Mrs. : see Mrs. Morley and 
Mrs. Freeman. 

Freestone State, The : Connecticut, 
U.S.A. In allusion to the freestone 
found within its borders. 

Freeze out, To : to force out of a business, 
company, etc., either by boycott or by 
intense competition. An Americanism . 

Freneh Aristides, The: -Albert Gr6vy 
(1813-91), President of the French 
Republic. After Aristides the Just 
(c. 530-46S B.C.), the Athenian states- 
man and general. 

French Aristophanes, The : Moli^re 
(1622-73). After Aristophanes (c. 
448-385 B.C.), the famous Grk. 

comedian. 

French Cream : brandy. In allusion 
to the Fr. practice of taking it with 
coffee. 

French Crown : baldness caused by the 
French disease (q.v.), [Shakespeare, 
Midsumtner Nighfs Dream, I, ii, 
99 (1590)] 

French Disease, The : venereal disease ; 
from its prevalence in France (early 
i6th cent.). 

French Fnnius, The : (i) Guillaume di 
loiris (1235-65) ; (2) Jehan de 

Meung (1260-1320), French poet. 
After Quintus Ennius (239-170 B.C.), 
the early Roman poet. 

French leave, To take : to act without 
permission. After the custom ^ in 
France in the i8th cent, of leaving 
a social gathering without taking 
leave of the host or hostess. Another 
origin is from the practice of the Fr, 
soldiery in the i6th cent, of seizing 
whatever they required. 

French Lycophron, The: Jean Dorat 
(1504-88), philologist and poet. After 
Lycophron (fi. 285-247 B.C.), the 
father of the anagram in Greece. 

Frendi Ovid, The : Joachim de Bellay 
(c. 1524-1560). After Ovid (B.C. 
43 to A.D. 18), the Rom. poet. 

French Phidias, The : (i) Jean Goujon 
(1515-1568) ; (2) Jean Baptiste 

Pigahe (1714-1785). After Phidias 
(c. 500-432 B.C.), the famous Grk. 
sculptor. 


French Pindar, The : (i) Jean Dinemandy 
(Dorat) (1504-1588) ; (2) Ponce Denis 
Lebrun (1719-1807). After Pindar 
(c. 522-443 B.C.), the famous Theban 
lyric poet. 

French Raphael, The : Eustache Le Sueur 
(1616-1655). After Raphael da Urbino 
(1483-1520), the great Ital. painter. 

Frendbi of Stratford atte Bowe : Cockney 
French. fChaucer, Canterbiiry Tales : 
Prologue, 120-2 (14th cent.)] 

French Tibullus, The : see Tibullus. 

Fresh as flowers in May, As : very fresh. 
[The Worlde and the Chylde, 1. 133 
(1522)] 

Ft^ woods and pastuzes new : a new 
field of activity. [Milton, Lycidas, 

193 (1637)] . 

Fiesh-water soldier, A : a raw recruit. 
[Florio, A Worlde of Wordes (1598)] 

Friar Rukh : a will o‘ the wisp. In 
Germ. foUdore Friar Rush was an evil 
spirit who in particular led monks 
and friars astray. 

Friar Tndk : a vagabond friar in medie- 
val Eng. folklore. 

Friday, A : a man Friday {q.v.). 

Friday-faced : sad looking. In allusion 
to Friday as a fast-day in the Roman 
Catholic Chnrch. [John Day, Blind 
Beggar, III, ii (1592)] 

Friday, Long : see Long. 

Friday, A man : a faithful personal 
attendant. In allusion to a character 
in Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719). 

Friday tree, A : a trouble or misfortune. 
In allusion to the tree or cross on which 
Jesus was crucified on the original 
Good Friday. 

Fridays come together. When two : never. 

Friend at Court, A : one who is in a 
position to use his influence on b^alf 
of another. Properly one who attends 
in a court of law to watch for and 
point out irregularities. [Romaunt of 
the Rose (c. 1400)] 

Friend in need, A : a friend who has been 
tested and found reliable. From the 
proverb, ' A friend in need is a friend 
indeed.* 

Friend of Clod, The: (i) Abraham; 
(2) any pious man. 

Friend Of man. The: (i) Victor, Marquis 
de Mirabeau (1715-89), author of 
VAmi des Homines, The Friend of 
Men (1756) ; {2) the robin. ; (3) the dog. 

Friend^ Icdand: an organization 
founded by Daniel O'ConndS in 1830, 
afterwards merged in the Irish Volun- 
teers. 



Friends] 


153 


[Fninres 


Friends of the People : a Whig society 
formed at the end of the isth cent, 
to secure parL reform. 

FriiaSi A : a Germ, soldier. So-called in 
the Briti^ Army, during the war of 
1914-18. After a common personal 
name in Germany. 

Fritz, Unser (Germ., Our Fritz) : the 
Emp. Frederick of Germany (1831-88). 
So-called by the Germans. 

Froebel, Xhe Italian : Antonio Rosmini- 
Serbati (1797-1855). 

Froebel Symm* The : a system of edu- 
cation for young children, invented by 
Frederick WUhrim Au^st Ftocbd 
(1782-1852}, German educationist. 

Froebelism: see Froebel System. 

Frog, A : a Frenchman, or more properly 
a Parisian. In allusion either to the 
device of the City of Paris, three frogs 
or toads, or to me gastronomical use 
of frogs in France. 

Frog, To catch a : to obtain little result 
to great exertions. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Frog, Nic (Bleholas) : a Dutchman. So- 
called in John Arbuthnot, Law is a 
Bottomless Pit (1712). 

Fred’s TnftTftTi, A : the carrying of a man 
face downwards by four bearers, one 
holding each limb. 

Fronde (Fr., a sling) : the French politi- 
cal party that rebelled against the 
govt, of Mazarin during the minority of 
Louis XIV (1648-53). Hence any 
violent political opposition. Frondeur, 
a member of the also a political 

opponent concemed with party advan- 
tage alone. 

Frondeiir, A : a spiteful critic ; a 
scandalmonger. See Fronde. 

Frost and flowers. To suit like : to be 
quite unsuitable. 

Frost Saints : St. Mamertus, St. Pan- 
cratius, St. Servatius, St. Boniface, 
whose days fall in 'the blackthom 
winter' (May zith-i4th). 

Frowning doth. To wear one’s : to be 
displeased. From an imaginary 
covering of the eyes (frowning doth). 

Frozen mnsle: architecture. So-call^ 
by Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von 
Schlegd (1772-1829). 

Fruit, Furbidd^ : see Forbidden. . 

Fry, The common : young or unim- 
portant people in generaL From ‘ fry ' 
in the sense of the young of hm^mn 
beings or fishes, collectively. 

Fey, Small : people of little consequence, 
lit. newly spawned fishes. 


Frying-pan into the fire, Out of the: 
out of one trouble into a greater one. 
[Cervantes, Don Quixote, Pt. I, Bk. Ill, 
ch. iv ; Heywood, Proverbes j(i 548 )] 

Faduria : a flowering plant, native to 
S. and C. America. After Leonard 
F^chs, Germ. bot. (1501-66). 

Fudge (Germ., futsch, a term of 
contempt) : nonsense. Apparently 
invented by Oliver Goldsmith in the 
Vicar of Wakefield (1766). » 

Fad to theflTA Vo add : to act or speak 
so as to increase a person's anger. 
[Horace, Satires, Bk. II, iii, 32 ; 
Ingdand, Disobedient Child, 1 . 317 
(1560) ; Xhos. Kyd, Spanish Tragedy 
(1592)] 

Fokeer^ As lidi as a : very wealthy. In 
dSrion to the Fuggeii a family of 
rich i6th cent. Geman merchants. 

Folhams : loaded dice. After the 
district of London which was notorious 
in the ZTih cent, for its bad characters. 

Foil of meat as an egg. As : of prime 
quality. [J ohn Still, Gammer Guyton's 
Needie, V, ii (1566) ; Shakespeare, 
Romeo and Juliet, III, i, 21 (1591)] 

Foil swing. In : with the utmost energy. 

Fam the Ibnrth : George IV of England. 

Fomc^ In a : in a temper. ' From the 
former sense of fume, vapour given ofi 
by bodies when heated. 

Fan ol^ To : to ridicule. Phrase 
apparently invented by Horace Wal- 
pole (1717-97). See his Correspofi^- 
dence. 

Fan ai» To poke t to ridicule. Phrase 
apparently invented by Thos. Hood 
(1799-1845)] 

Fonds, The : the stock of a national debt. 

Fanfe, To be in a : to be frightened ; 
poss. from (Walloon) fonk, sxnoke. 
[Peter Pindar, Subj^ts for Painters 
(i8ih cent.)] 

Fanny bone, Ihe : the extremity of the 
elbow. A verbal play on the Lat. 
equivalent, humerus. 

Foznaoe, To roast snow in a : see Roast 
Fussy as a hen that has one chiok. As : 
see Busy as a hen, etc. 

Fostisn ; (i) bombast ; (2} a coarse 

cotton fabric. From Fo^t, a dist 
of Cairo, where the hLbric was orig. 
obtained. [Gosson, Ephemerides of 
Phiaito (1579); Lyly, Euphues and 
his England (1580)] 

Fatores, To de al in : to purchase diares 
in the expectati^ that their value 
will rise before the purchaser is called 
on to pay for them. 



a.O.M.] 154 [Gamo 


Q.O^M., The : the Grand Old Man, Wm. 
Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), British 
statesman. The epithet, * The Grand 
Old Man,* is said to have been first 
applied to him by Sir Stafford North- 
cote (1818-87), 1st Earl of Iddesleigh. 
The initial letters were first applied 
to Gladstone by Lord Rosebery on 
the 26th of April, 1882. Still earlier 
Walter Farquhar Hook (1798-1875), 
Dean of Chichester and author, used 
the term on at least two occasions, in 
reference to Handel, the composer, 
and to Theodore, Archbishop of 
Canterbury. 

G.OJff. of Athens, The : Pericles 
(490-429 B.C.), Athenian statesman. 
So-called by Frederick Apthorp Paley 
in his Fragments of Greek Comic Poets 
{1888). 

G.T.T. : gone to Texas ; decamped. 

Gfah, The gift of the : the power of 
eloquence and persuasive talking ; 
from gab (Ang.-Sax.), speech, (Scot.) 
the mouth. [Godwin, Caleb Williams 

(1794)]. . . . 

Oaherlnnzie man, A : a wandering 
beggar. From gaberlunzie, a coarse 
woollen gown, a costume worn by 
licensed beggars. 

Gahrielle, I1& belle * Gabrielle d'Estr^es 
(1571-1599), Mistress of Henry IV 
of France. 

Gabriel’s hounds : wild geese. From 
the noise they make when fl3dng and 
from the legend that they are the 
souls of unbaptixed children doomed 
to wander until the Day of Judg- 
ment. 

Gaff, To Wow the : to divulge a secret. 

Ga£f, A penny : a low cl^ theatre. 
After the name of the first Drury 
I^e theatre, built on the site of a 
cockpit. The gaff was the iron hook 
with which cocks were goaded to the 
fight. 

Gblg, A : an interpolation in the dialogue 
of a play by the actor. Properly a 
mining term for a piece of timber 
pushed in hurriedly to prevent others 
from settling. 

Gag, The : the closure, the power given 
to the majority in the House of 
Commons to close a debate. 

Gage d’ Amour (Fr., a love token) : 
[Sterne, Sentimental Journey (1768)] 

Galaniy Show, A : a shadow pantomime. 

GkJazy, A : orig. the Milky Way ; a 
brilliemt concourse of persons. Grk., 
yaXaiinQ, milky. 


G(alen, A : a physician. After a cele- 
brated physician of Pergamus (2nd 
cent.). 

(Sfalen says no and Hippocrates says yes, 
\^en : when doctors disagree. 
Galen (2nd cent.) and Hippocrates 
(460-357 B.C.) were famous physicians 
of antiquity. 

Galena : salt pork ; from Galen, 
Illinois, a pork pacing centre. 
Galenist, A : a herb doctor. See Galen. 
Galore P One faites vons dans cette : see 
Que. 

Galbre, Vogue la : Vogue. 

Galilean, A : (i) a Christian, after 

Galilee one of the scenes of Jesus' 
activities ; (2) a telescope, after 

the inventor, Galileo (1564-1642). 
Galilee, A: a church porch. After 
Galilee as an outlying province of 
. the Holy Land. 

Gall of Bitterness, The V extreme bitter- 
ness of spirit. According to the 
ancients the gall was the seat of grief 
and joy. [Acts, viii, 23] 

Gall, Full of: full of bitterness. [Jas. 
Puckle, The Club : The Buffoon 

(1711)3 

Gsdl, To be turned to : to be changed 
into sorrow, [Gray, William Shaken 
spear e to Mrs. Anne, 11 . 11-2 (1765)] 
Gtoll and Wormwood : that whic^ causes 
mental pain and bitterness. Gall 
and wormwood are both synonyms 
for bitterness. [Wycliffe, Transl. of 
the Bible (14th cent.)] 

Gallantee Show, A : see Galanty Show. 
Gallery, To play to the : of a leader, 
speaker, etc., to lower his views or 
the expression of them to the level of 
the mob. A theatrical metaphor: — 
to act as to satisfy the crude desires 
* of the occupants of the gallery. 
Ghdlioanism : the movement within the 
R.C. Ch. in France which is opposed 
to Ultramontanism and the encroach- 
ments of the Papal authority. 
Galligaskins : (i) a style of trousers ; 
(2) leather gait^ worn by sportsmen. 
Old Fr., garguescans, from grechesco 
(Ital.) greekish, a term in use in 
Venice. Another suggested der. is 
from Galley and Gascons, the sugges- 
tion being that such garments were 
worn by galley seamen of Gascony. 
[Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penilesse 

(1592)] 

Ghdlio, A : an easy-gomg person ; one 
who does not interfere outside of his 
official duties. After Gallio, the Rom. 



Gallomania] 135 

pro-consul, * who cared for none of 
those things/ [Acts, xvui.]. 

Gallomania : a passion for things and 
fashions French. 

Galloway, A : a horse of small size, bred 
in Galloway, Scotland. 

Gallowglasses : Scot, and Irish heavily 
amed mercenary foot troops in the 
time of Elizabeth. Irish, galloglach, 
foreign soldier. 

Gallows, To cheat the : of a criminal, 
who dies otherwise than on the 
gallows. 

G^alIows-bird, A : one who deserves 
to be hanged. 

Galley-breeches : see Galligaskins. 

(Jally-Ga^ns : see Galligaskins. 

Gally-pot baronet, A : a physician- 
baronet. 

Galore {Irish, go ledr) : in abundance. 

Galvanism : a branch of the science of- 
electricity. From Luigi Galvani, Ital. 
physicist (1737-98). 

G^way Jury, A : a courageous, just jury. 
From the action of a Galway jury in 
deciding against the King in a case 
heard in 1635. 

Gamaliel, A : a pedant ; a distinguished 
teacher. After the Jewish teacher of 
St. Paul. 

Gamaliel Eatsey, A : a highwayman. 
After one who flourished in the i6th 
and 17th centuries. 

Game, To be : to be ready and fully 
prepared, esp. for a fight or mischief. 

A cockfighting metaphor. 

Game, To die : to remain resolute until 
the last. A cockfighting metaphor. 

Game, Fair : a legitimate object of 
attack, ridicule, etc. A hunting 
metaphor. 

Game leg, A (Irish, gam, bad, crooked) ; 
an injured leg. 

Game, One’s little : one's dodge or trick. 

Game of . . To make : to ridicule 
[Ros, Belle Dame sans Mercy, 226 
{1460)] 

Game, To play a losing : see Losing. 

Game, To play the: to act straight- 
forwardly. A gambling metaphor. 
ODryden, Epistle to Mr. Lee, 11. 5-6 
(1677)] 

Game, Two can play at that : of sharp or 
incorrect practice ; others can act 
similarly. A gambling metaphor. 

Game is up. The : an admission of defeat. 

A gambling metaphor. [Shakespeare, 
Cymbeline, III, iii (1610)] 

Game is not wor^ the candle. The : see 
Candle. 


[Garden 

Game’s afoot. The : the enterprise has 
commenced. [Shakespeare, Henry V, 
III, i (1599)] 

Gamin, A (Fr.) : a street Arab. 

Gammon : nonsense ; idle chatter. 
Orig. thieves' slang. To keep in 
gammon is to keep the attention of a 
person while a confederate is robbing 
him. [14th cent.] 

Gamp, A : a large shabby umbrella. 
After Mrs. Sairey Gamp, a character in 
Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1843), who 
always carried such a one. 

Gamp, Sarah (Sairy) (Ittrs.) : a middle- 
aged, unqualified, drinMng midwife. 
After a character in Dickens, Martin 
Chuzzlewit (1843). 

Gamps and Earles : workhouse or 
other low-class nurses. After 
characters in Dickens, Martin Chuzzle- 
wit (1843). 

Gang agley. To (Scot.) : to go wrong. 

Gang days, The : the Rogation days ; 
three days preceding Ascension Day, 
on which processions take place. 

Gang one’s own gait. To : to go one's 
own way. Scot., gang, to go, gait, a 
course. 

Gang Monday : Monday in Rogation 
Week. See Gang days. 

Gang Week : Rogation Week. See Gang 
days. 

Ganymede, A : (i) a beautiful youth ; 
(2) a pot-boy. After the cupbearer of 
Jupiter, ‘ the most beautiful boy ever 
bom.' 

Ganymede, The birds of : eagles. From 
the legend of Ganymede riding to 
Olympus on the back of an eagle. 

Gaol bird, A : a criminal, esp. one who is 
frequently in prison. [Earle, Micro- 
cosmography : A Vulgar-spirited Man 
(1628)] 

Gkipe’s nest. To se^ a : to stare about 
open-mouthed. Devonshire phrase. 

Gape seed. To look for : to stare open- 
mouthed. [Florio (1598)] 

Gaps with one bosh. To stop two : see 
Stop. 

Gaps with rushes. To stop : see Stop. 
Garcias ; Garcias, The Soul of P^o : 
money. According to a statement 
made in the preface to Le Sage, Gil 
Bias (1715), two scholars of Salamanca 
discovered a tombstone with the 
inscription ' Here lies the soul of the 
licentiate Pedro Garcias.' In the 
tomb they found only a purse of gold. 

Garden of Armida : see Armida. 
j Garden City, The : Chicago. 



Oaidea] 


156 


[Qaimilet 


Kent; 
Isle of 


Italy; 


Qaiden of Cl^odoC6» !Che : the island of 
Sark. So-called by Swinbnme in a 
poexn of that name {1880). 

Qaxden of England* The: (x) 

(a) Worcestershire; (3) the 
Wight. 

Garden of The : Carlow. 

Garden of Europe* The: (i) 

(2) Belginm. 

Garten of France^ The : {i\ Tonraine ; 
(2) Amboiae in Indre et Loire. 

Garten of Edvetiia* The : Thnrgan. 

Garden of India* The : Onde. 

Garden of Ireland* The : Carlow. 

Garden of Italy, The : Sicily- 

Garden of South Wales, The: South 
Glamoiganshire. 

Garden of Spain* The : Andalusia. 

Garden Siat^ The: (x] Kansas; (2) 
New Jersey. 

Garden of the Stm* The : f^e East Indian 
Archipelago. 

Garden of the Weet» The : (i) Kansas ; 
(2) Illinois. 

Gtfden of the Wcrtd* The : (i) Italy : 
(2} London; (3) the region of the 
Mississippi. 

: a genns of evergreen shrub. 
After Alex. Garden, Amer. bot. (c. 
1730-91). 

Gargani^ A : a person with an 
insatiable appetite. Gargantuan. 

Gaxgaatoan : .(i) gigantic ; (2) threaten- 
ing. After the giant king in Rabelais, 
The Life ef Gargantua (1532). 

Gaigantdan course of studies* A: a 
course of studies covering all subjects. 
See Rabdais, Pcmtagrueh ii* 3 (i 532 )* 

Gadhaldi* A: a blouse, orig. red, the 
colour of Garibaldi’s rrt shirts ; from 
the name of the Ital. revolutionist 
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-^2). See 
next fiTtiby. 

Gaifbaldi^s red ddzt: the uniform 
adopted by Garibaldi and his men in 
the liberation of Italy (1859-66). 
From the garment worn by Amer. 
merchant-seamen, first adopted by 
Garibaldi when he took command of 
the merchantmen at Baltimore. 

Garter* The Order of the : England's 
highest order of knighthood ; es- 
tablished about 1349. The foundation 
and name of the Order are attributed 
to the finding of a garter of the 
Countess of Salisbury by the King, 
Edward III. 

Garters untied* To go with one’s: in 
the reign of Elizabeth, an outward 
expression of being in love, being too 


much engrossed to trouble about one's 
personal appearance. 

Games : sprats. After Inch Gaxvie in 
the Firth of Forth where they are 
caught. 

0as* ^ : to talk at great length but 
without any value. 

Gfuscon* A : a boaster. See Gasconade. 

Gasconade* A : boasting. After Gascony 
in France whose people were reputed to 
have a tendency in that dire^on. 

Gascoyne Bride* The: MoU Cntpurse 
(^.v.), who assumed male attire. Por 
Gascoyne see Galligaskins. 

Gaspipe cavalry : military cyclists. 

Gate^ The: the money taken at the 
gate for admission to a cricket or 
football match or other sporting 
display. 

Gate of Horn : see Horn Gate. 

Gate of Ivory : see Ivory Gate. 

Gate of the irtnd* The : the face. [Rob. 
Johnson, Essies : Of Travell (1607)] 

Gate money : see Gate. 

Gate of Tears* The : the entrance to the 
Red Sea. So-called by the Arabs on 
account of the number of ^pwrecks 
that occur there. 

Gath t Tdl it not In : publish not the 
news abroad 1 [U Samuel, i, 20] 

Gathers, Out of: in distress. Like a 
woman's dress whose gathers or pleats 
have become unfastened. 

Gathered to one’s fathers. To he : to 
die. A biblical phrase. [Genesis, 
XXV, 8 ; Judges, ii, 10] 

GatUng-gniiv A : a species of machine- 
gun. After Rich. Jordan Gatling, the 
Amer. inventor (1818-1903). 

Gauche {Fr., left-[handed]) : dnmsy; 
tactless. 

Gtencho* A : a mixed Spanish and Indian 
inhabitant of S. America, esp. skilled 
in horsemanship. 

Gandy days (nights) (Lot,, gaudere, to 
rq"oice): days (ni^ts) of rejoicing; 
gala days. [i6th cent.] 

Gauntlet^ To nm &e : to undergo 
punishment; to run the risk of punish- 
ment or danger from two oar more 
sides. Properly to run the gantlope, 
a nulitary and naval punishment in 
which the sufiEerer, stripped to the 
waist, ran between two rows of men 
armed with whijjs. [Smollett, Pere^ 
grine Pickle, ch. 80 (1751)] 

Gauntlet* To throw down the: to 
dbiallenge. From the practice of 
chivalry of throwing down a gauntlet 
or glove as a challenge. 



Gautier] 157 

Gautier and Garguille : everybody in 
general. Gantier-Gargouille was a I7tli 
cent. French, clown who made fun of 
everybody. 

Gavelldnd: an Anglo-Saxon system of 
inheritance whereby all the sons 
shared alike. 

Gay deceiver, A : a libertine ; a man 
who, with no real intentions of matri- 
mony, sponges on families where there 
are marriageable daughters. [Smollett, 
Transl. of Gil Bias (1749)] 

Gay dog, A : a gallant. 

Gay as the king’s candle. As : showily 
dressed. In allusion to a candle of 
many colours, formerly burnt in 
France on the Vigil of the Bangs. 
(Jan. 6). 

Chiy Science, The : (i) poetry ; (2) belles 
lettres, generally; (3) minstrelsy. 

Crazet, Not worth a : of practically no 
value. From gazet, a Venetian coin 
worth less than a farthing. 

Gkizette, A : a newspaper. After the 
gazet or gazzetta, the Venetian coin 
that was paid for permission to read 
the manuscript newspaper which 
recorded the events in the war with 
Soliman the Magnificent (c. 1522). 

Grazing-stock, A : anything that is gazed 
at or attracts idle attention. ^liles 
Coverdale, Transl, of the Bible (1535)] 

Geese are swans. All his : he is given to 
exaggeration. [Robert Burton, 
Anatomy of Melancholy^ Pt. I, Sect. II, 
memb. 3, sub-sect. 14 {1621)] 

Ctehenna : Hell. Lit., the Valley of 
Hinnom, near Jerusalem, the place of 
sacrifice of children to Moloch, and 
later the receptacle of the refuse of the 
city which was consumed by fire. 
Heb., G5, valley, and Hinnom. 

Gclert, As faithful as : devoted. In 
allusion to the dog Gelert, the hound 
of Llewellyn, famous in Welsh legend 
for its devotion to its master. 

Gem of the ocean. The : Ireland. So- 
called by Thomas Moore. 

Gemini ! Oh : a 17th cent, oath invoking 
the Gemini or twin-gods, Castor and 
Pollux. 

General, The : the mob. So-used by 
Shak^peare. 

General Janvier and General Feviier [Fr., 
General J anuary and General 
February) : the rigours of winter 
which destroyed the army led by 
Napoleon into Russia (1812). 

Genem post. The: the first postal 
delivery of the day ; orig. the mail that 


[Gentle 

arrived from the General Post Office 
in London. 

Generous as Hathn, As : Hatim was a 
Bedouin chief who lived during the 
generation before Mahomet. 

Geneva : (i) Calvinism, after the Swiss 
town formerly the centre of the cult ; 
(2) gin ; an alcoholic spirit flavoured 
with juniper berries. (Fr., genitvre, 
the juniper tree). 

Geneva hands : white neckbands orig. 
worn by Calvinists and subsequently 
by clergymen of that denomination. 
See Geneva (i). 

Geneva Bible, The : the Eng. translation 
of the Bible, printed at Geneva in 1 560. 

Geneva Bull, The : Stephen Marshall 
(c, 1594-1655), a Calvinist divine, who 
possessed a very loud voice. 

Geneva Convention, The : the Convention 
between the Powers (1864) by which 
was regulated international usage in 
warfare as regards the wounded and 
sick. The R^ Cross is the badge of 
those who work under it. 

Geneva courage : valour induced by 
alcohol. In allusion to Geneva as a 
S3nionym for gin. 

Geneva Cross, The : a red cross on a 
white ground, worn by doctors, nurses, 
and ottiers connected with the service 
of the wounded and sick in the army. 
See Geneva Convention. 

Geneva Doctrines : Calvinism. After 
John Calvin, the reformer, who lived 
at Geneva from 1541 onwards. 

Geneva gown, A : a black gown with 
bands worn by Calvinist and other 
clerg3nnen, similar to those worn by 
the Calvinists in Geneva. 

Geneva hat, A : a hat of the style worn 
by Puritan clergymen. See Geneva 
gown. 

Geneva print. To read : to drink gin or 
other spirit. See Geneva. 

Geneva Weaver, A : a puritan. In the 
1 6th cent, weavers were celebrated for 
their psalm-singing : Geneva was a 
centre of Puritanism. 

Genius, One’s evil : he who has a bad 
influence over one. 

Genius loci (La^., genius of the place) : 
the presiding spirit ; the associations 
and inspirations that gather round a 
place. [Dryden, Epistle to Dr. 
Charleton, 11. 53-6 (1663)] 

Gentle craft, The: (i) angling; (2) 
shoemaking. [Greene's George-a- 
Greene (1592)] In the former case 
the phrase turns on the gentle or 



Gentle] 


ijS 


[Get 


maggot used as a bait ; in the latter 
ttLe^usion is to the Romance of 
Prince Crispin who was a cobbler. 

Gtofle People, HhB : fames. 

Gentle ShShia, ®ie : George Grenvine 
(1712-1770), Eng. stat^an ; so 
called by William Pitt, Bail of Chat- 
ham. 

Genflemaii in blade, A : a schc^. [Sir 
Thos. Overbury, Characiers : A meere 
Scholar (1616)] - T^ -i 

Gentleman in Black, The : the Devil, 
(^enilenian in black (brown) vdvet, ^ : 
a mole. So caUed by the Jacobites 
who bdieved that a mole was the 
cause of the death of King William 

III- . • 1, 

Gentleman-commoner, A: a specially 
privileged undergraduate of Oxford 
or Cambridge. ^ 

Gentleman of fortone, A : (i) a pirate ; 
(2] an adventurer. 

Genueman of the four onis, A : one 
without manners, without wit, with- 
out money, without credit. 

GentLemsn of the iadket^ Asa sailor. 
[Henry Fielding, Voyage to Lisbon 

Genueman at large. A: one of the 
unemployed; oiig. one attached to 
the Court without any specific 
duties. 

Gentleman ofthelong robe. A: a barris- 
ter or clergyman. In allusion to 
the costume worn by members of 
those professions when on duty. [T he 
Spectator, No. 197 (1711)] 

Genueman, The did : the DeviL 

Gentiemanofthepad. A : ahighwayman. 
[Farquhar, Beaux Stratagem, II, ii 

(170^] 

Geniieman of paper and wa^ A ; a 
newly created Knight ; one made 
a 'gentleman' by patent and seal. 

Gentleman of the Press, A : a journalist. 
Phrase coined by Lord Beaconsfield 
in a speech in the House of Commons 
(i8th Feb., 1853). 

Ctoileman ranker, A : a private soldier 
of superior social station; generally 
one who enlists after failure to pass 
the examination for a commission and 
is speedily promoted. 

Genfleinan in red. As a soldier, ha 
to the foxmer colour of the 
ordinary Brit, military uniform. 

GenGemaa of the Boad, A : a highway- 
man. 

Genticman of the Short staff, A : a 
constable. 


Gentleman of the thf ee outs. As' With- 
out money, without wit, without 
manners * (Grose's Diet, of the Vulgar 
Tongue), ^ out of pocket, out of 
elbows, out of credit ' (Ljrtton, Paul 
Clifford}, 

GenGeman’s gentleinaii. A: a valet. 
[Defoe, Everybody's Business (1725); 
Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, Letter 
exx (17^)] 

Genus omne, Et Hoos see Hoc. 

George^ Farmer : see Farmer. 

George-arGreen, As strong (good) as: 
George-a-Green was a popular hero of 
the old ballad poetry. As pinner or 
pindar (pound-keeper) of Wakefield 
he defeated all comers at quaiterstafi. 
He was the subject of The Pindar of 
Wakefield by R. Greene (1599). 
[Wit's Recreations (1640)] 

Gannan comb. The : the four fingers and 
thumb. In allusion to the former 
German practice of adjusting the 
hair with the fingers. 

German Florence^ The s Dresden. 

German Idteratore^ The father of : 

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81). 

German Plato, The : Fredrick Heinrich 
Jacobi (1743-1819)- allusion to 
Plato (427-347 B.C.), the Grk. philos- 
opher. 

German Pliny, The : Konrad von Gesner 
(1516-65). In allusion to Pliny, the 
Elder (23-79), Roman naturalist. 

German silver s an alloy that looks like 
silver; first made in Germany. 

German Foliaire^ The : see Voltaire, The 
German. 

(Sennan’s lips. As ]ust as : see Jexman’s 
Lips. 

GermanophoUa : unreasonable hatred 
of Germany, Germans or things 
German. 

Germany, Young s see Young. 

Gerrymander, To s so to arrange the 
electoral divisions as arti fici ally^ to 
secure a majority. After Elbridge 
Gerry, Gov. of Massachusetts (i744- 
1814), who was given to this practice. 
The word was coined by Benjamin 
Russell, Editor of The Continent, in 
1812. 

Get at a person. To : to obtain inSuence 
over improperly or corruptly. 

Get one’s back up. To : to estrange ; to 
render antagonistic. In allusion to 
the atittude of a cat when faced by an 
enemy. „ ^ 

Get out of bed on the wrong side. To : 

to be irritable and bad tempered. In 



159 


Get] 


[Gilded 


allusion to the proverb ‘ To rise on 
the right side is accounted lucky/ 

Get into one’s good graces. To : to get 

into a person’s favour. 

Get on one’s nerves. To : to affect one 
so as to make one irritable. 

Gtet on in the world. To : to advance in 
fortune, to make progress. 

Ghetto, A (Ital .) : orig. the quarter of 
a medieval continental city in which 
the Jews were confined; now any 
district of a city largely inhabited 
by Jews. 

Ghibellines, The: the Imperial party 
in med. Italy ; the opponents of the 
Guelphs. 

Ghost, A : a person who does literary 
or artistic work on behalf of another 
and in his name. 

Ghost Book, A : a book that has been 
announced but has never been pub- 
lished. 

Ghost of a chance. The : a very slight 
chance. 

Ghost, To give up the : to die. [/o6, 
xiv, lo; Earl of Surrey, Complaint 
of a diyng louer (i557)] 

Ghost Word, A : a word that had never 
any real existence but owed its origin 
to the blunder of a printer, copyist 
or editor. Term invented by W, W. 
Skeat. [Transactions Philological 
Society, p. 371 (1886)] 

Ghoul, A: a person who seeks profit 
of the dead. After an oriental demon 
who was supposed to devour human 
beings. 

Giant Despair : the owner of Doubting 
Castle in Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress 
(1678). 

Giwt gooseheny, A : a marvellous story. 
After the wonderful accounte of giant 
gooseberries, etc., with which news- 
papers used to fill their columns in the 
slack season. 

Giant of Literature^ The : Dr. Samuel 
Johnson (1709-83). 

Giwt, To stand on the shoulders of a : 
of a mediocrity who has the advantage 
of the discoveries of the great men 
who have preceded him. [Sir Isaac 
Newton to Rob. Hooke, 5 Feb. 1673-6] 

Giants, Battle of the : see Battle. 

Gib. The cut of one’s ; a person’s facial 
appearance. A nautical metaphor. 

Gib, To hang one’s : to be angry. The 
gib is the lower lip of a horse. 

Gib, To play fy : to threaten. From 
Gib, a cat, a diminutive of Gilbert, the 
cat in the fable of Reynard the Fox, 


Gib, To play the : to behave like a cat. 

(Hbberish: unintelligible nonsense. After 
Geber (fl. c. 800), an Arabian alchemist, 
who spoke an unintelligible jargon in 
order to protect himself against prose- 
cution for heresy. 

Gibelines; see Ghibellines. 

Gibeonite^ A : a menial. After the 
Gibeonites who were made in per- 
petuity hewers of wood and drawers of 
water to the Israelites. [Joshua, ix, 
27] 

Gibeonites’ work. To do : to be a slave. 
see Gibeonite. 

Gibraltar of . . The : an impregnable 
outpost of a country or fortress, like 
Gibraltar. 

Gibraltar of America, The : Quebec. 

Gibraltar of the New World, The : 
Quebec, or more ^ properly. Cape 
Diamond in the Province of Quebec. 

Gibson girl, A ; a style of girl as depicted 
in the drawings of Mr. Chas. Dana 
Gibson (b. 1867), Amer. artist. 

(Hbus, A : an opera-hat. After the name 
of the inventor. 

Giddy goat. To play the : to live a fast, 
happy-go-lucky life. 

Gift of the gab : see Gab. 

Gift horse in the mouth. To look a : to 
criticise a gift. From the proverb, 
* Never look a gift horse in the mouth/ 
which was current at least as early as 
the 4th cent. 

Gigantomachia, A : a superhuman 
contest or battle. After the battle of 
the giants against the gods, of Grk. 
legend. 

Gigmanity; Gigmanic: respectability; 
respectable. Word invented by 
Thomas Carlyle to express the respect- 
ability of a man as proved by his 
keeping a gig. [Essay on Boswell's 
Life of Johnson (1832)] 

Gilbertian : humorously absurd. After Sir 
William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911), 
Eng. humorous librettist. 

Gild the pill. To : to soften the asperity 
of a course of action. From the 
practice of gilding a pill so that it 
may be the more eaisily swallowed. 
[Dekker, Satiromasiix {1602)] 

Gild refined gold. To : see Gold. 

Gilded Chamber, The: the House of 
Lords. 

Gilded youth, A : a wealthy young man 
of fashion and of much leisure. After 
the Jeunesse Dorie (gilded youth) who 
assisted in the ov^throw of Robes- 
pierre. 



Gilderoy’s] i6o 

Gilderoy’s kite, To be hung higher than : 
to be punished most severely. Patrick 
Macgregor, otherwise Gilderoy (Red- 
headed Gillie), was a famous Highland 
brigand who was caught and hanged 
on a gallows higher than those of his 
associates at Edinburgh in June, 1636. 

Gilead, Balm in : see Balm. 

Giles, Hopping (Hobbling) : see Hopping 
Giles. 

Gillian of Brentford : a noted witch. 

GiOie-wet-foot, A : a follower of a 
Highland chief, among whose duties 
was the carrying of his master across 
streams. So-called in derision by 
Lowlanders. Gaelic, gille, a servant. 

Gilt off the gingerbread. To take the : to 
destroy the illusion. It was once the 
custom to gild gingerbread, esp. when 
it was made up into fancy shapes. 

Gilt-edged Securities : Stock Exchange 
securities of the highest class. The 
term was introduced during the last 
quarter of the 19th cent, from the U.S. 

Gimlet eye, A : a crossed eye ; a piercing 
eye. 

Gin : an alcoholic drink. An abbrevi- 
ation of Geneva (^.?/.). 

Gin palace, A : a public house made esp. 
attractive in appearance. 

Univ, Magazine (1834)] 

Ginger : an appellation applied to red- 
haired people. After Guinevere, 
Queen of Kmg Arthur, who is said to 
have had red hair. 

Gingerbread, To t^e the gilt off the : 

see Gilt. 

Gingham, A : a cheap umbrella. After 
the name of the cotton material of 
which they are made. Malay, ging~ 
gang^ striped, or from Guingamp in 
Brittany. 

Giotto’s 0 , As round as : stupid. In 
allusion to a story told of Giotto who 
sent an O as a specimen of his work to 
the Pope. 

Gipsy : from Eg3q)t, once believed to 
be the countiy of origin of the wander- 
ing race of gipsies. 

Girdle, To give up one’s: to become 
bankrupt. In allusion to the old 
French practice of giving up one’s 
girdle when deprived of one’s property. 
The girdle held one’s keys, money, 
dagger, arms, etc. 

Girl of all work, A : a maid-servant ; 
esp. one not of a very high class. 
[J^e Austen, Sense and Sensihility, 
ch! 38 (1811)] 

Girl at ease, A : a prostitute. 


[Glaucus 

Girl-graduates, Sweet : a phrase derived 
from Tennyson, Princess, Prologue, 142 
(1847-50}] 

Girondins ; Girondists, The : the moder- 
ate party in the Fr. Revolution. After 
the Dept, of the Gironde whose 
deputies led the party. 

Gist of the matter. The : the pith ; the 
central point of the matter. 

Give a person away, To : to betray a 
person; intentionally or unintention- 
ally. 

Give oneself away. To : to make a confi- 
dential communication to the wrong 
person ; to tell a story against oneself ; 
to disclose one’s foibles on the slightest 
provocation. 

Give as good as one gets, To : to return 
blow for blow. {The Spectator, No. 
605 (1714)] 

Give and take, To : to compromise ; of 
two persons or parties, to give way on 
both parts. 

Give stow to one’s dog and bones to 
one’s ass, To : to do precisely the 
wrong thing. 

Gizzard, To stick in one’s : to annoy one ; 
prove unpleasant. Pepys (1633-1703) 
used gizzard in this sense. 

Glad eye, The : the glance of a girl in- 
tended to attract a strange man. 

Glaidstone : cheap claret. After William 
Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), who re- 
duced the import duty on Fr. wines 
in 1869. 

Gladstone bag, A ; a small portmanteau. 
After William Ewart Gladstone, 
British statesman (1809-98). 

Gladstone’s umbrella : a reference to the 
discordant political elements which 
united in support of Gladstone at the 
General Election of 1885. 

Gladstonize, To : to talk at great length 
without saying much of consequence. 
After the manner of William Ewart 
Gladstone (1809-98), Brit, statesman. 

Glasgow capon, A : see Capon. 

Glasgow magistrate, A : a herring. After 
the practice of sending specimen 
herrings to the Baillie of Glasgow. 

Glasshouse, To live in a : to lay oneself 
open to criticism. From the proverb, 

* They who live in glasshouses should 
not throw stones.’ 

Glassite, A : a member of a Scot, religious 
sect founded by John Glass (1695- 
1773) in 1728. 

Glaucus, A second : one who ruins him- 
self by horseracing. After Glaucus 
who was killed by his horses. 



Glauoas] 


i6i 


[(Jog 


Qlanons SWOPt A : an exchange in which 
one party obtains a considerable 
advantage. In allusion to the ex- 
diange of armour between Glaucus 
and Diomedes. 

Globe-trotter, A : a traveller in foreign 
lands for his own pleasure. 

fllnriftna, : Queen Elizabeth. From the 
name of the Faerie Queen in Spenser's 
poem so-entitled (1590-6). 

Glorions first of Jane : see First of Junp. 

Glorioos John : John Dryden (1631- 
170Z), Eng. poet and man of letters. 

Glo:^ Demon, The : war. So-called by 
C. Thomson. 

Glove, To bite one’s : to determine on 
revenge. A practice derived from the 
borderland of England and Scotland. 

Glove money : a bribe or gratuity given 
nominally for the purchase of gloves. 

Glove^ To take np the: to accept a 
challenge. From the feudal practice 
of challenging by means of a glove. 
[Gosson, Ephameridas ofPhialto (1579)] 

Glove, To throw down &e : to issue a 
challenge. Metaphor derived from 
chivalry. [Shakespeare, Tfoilus and 
Cressida, IV, iv (1606)] 

Gloves, To go for the : sea Go. 

Gloves, To win a pair of : to kiss while 
asleep, the forfeit being nominally a 
Mir of gloves. [Jonathan Swift, 
Polite Conversation, Dial. Ill (1738)] 

Gloves off. With the: ve^ severely; 
unmercifully. A pugilistic metaphor. 

Ghie fthalk, To : to act foolishly. £Vom 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Gnat and swallow a oamd. To strain at a : 
to object to a trifle while accepting 
somelhing of greater cons^uence. 
[Matthew, xxiii, 24 ; J. King, On 
Jonas (1594)] 

Go, AU the : the fashion. 

Go for the gloves; To : to initiate an 
offensive after having succeeded while 
on the defensive. 

Go farther and fare worse. To : tolosean 
opportunity in the baseless ezpecta- 
ation of securing a better one. [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Go, Great : see Great Go. 

Go, Idttle : see Little Go. 

Go one better. To : to surpass a previous 
efiort or competitor. 

Go to pieces. To : suddenly to lose all 
power of resistance or cohesion. 

Go, To have plenty of : to have plenty 
of energy. 

Go too far. To : to exceed a person's 
patience. 


Go up. To : to proceed from the country 
or a smaller town to the principal one. 
After the biblical phrase ‘ to go up to 
Jerusalem.' 

(Jo to the wall. To : see Wall. 

(Jo without saying. To: to be self- 
evident. From the Fr. phrase, ' Qa 
va sans dire.' 

(Jo wrong. To : to commit a crime ; of a 
woman, to surrender her chastity. 

Gift’s Wool : a flgment of the imagina- 
tion. [UdaU, Demonstr. DiscipL (1588)] 

Gk>-by, To ^ve a person the : to ‘ cut ' 
or ignore a person. [Earl of Bristol, 
Elvira, IV, i (1667)] 

GkH>fr, At the : in the first instance. 

(Jobelin : tapestry made at the factory 
founded by Jean Gobelin of Paris 
(d. 1476). 

Gobemouohes, A (Fr., gober, to swallow, 
mouche, a fly) : one who is earily de- 
ceived. 


God, An act of: an action of uncon- 
trollable natural forces resulting in 
damage or injury. A l^jal term. 

God in Ihe iwaehiTift, The : see Deus ex 
machina. 

(Jods, Among the : m a theatre gallery. 
In ft.niiginn to the pictures of classic^ 
gods on the ceiling of Drury Lane 
Theatre. The gallery of a theatre is 
of course close to the ceiling. 

God’s acre : see Acre, God's. 

(Jod’s bloMlng into the wann sun. To go 
out of: to make a change for the 
worse. Derived from a proverbial 
expression. [Heywood, Proverbes 

(1546)] 

God’s im^e cut in ebony : a negro. So- 
called by Thos. Fuller in The Good 
Sea-Captain. 

God’s ufia.-rlr ; a mark placed on a house 
infected by plague. 

God’s Sunday : Easter Sunday. 

(Joddem, A : an Englishman. In allusion 
to the Englidi propensity to swearing. 
Corruption of ^God damn.' 

Goddess of Beauty, The : Venus. 

(Joddess, The oapxidons : fortune. 

(Jodseud, A : an imexpected benefit. 

Gh3g and Magog : two gigantic statues in 
the Guildhall, London, which date 
from the reign of Henry V . ^ According 
to Ezekiel xxxviii and xxxix, Gog was 
iring of the land of Magog. The two 
figures in London are supposed tc 
iwresent Gogmagog, a legendary king 
of^e giants, and Cmineus, a h^o and 
giant of Cornwall, by whom he was 


killed. 


M 



162 


Goggle-eyed ; with staring, outstanding i 
eyes. [Ascham, Toxcphilus, Bk. II 
(1545)] 

Gogmagogical : gigantic ; monstrous. 
[Taylor, Workes (1630)] See Gog and 
Magog. 

Golcondfl, A : a very rich mine. After 
the diamond mines of Golconda, near 
Hyderabad, India. 

Gold, To gild refined; to attempt to 
improve perfection. [Shakespeare, 
King John, IV, ii. 11 . 11-6 (1596)] 

Gold, Mannheim : an alloy of copper and 
zinc, invented at Mannheim, Germany. 

Gold IvnnA, A: a source of wealth or 
fortime. [H. Peacham, Worth of a 
Penny (1664)] 

Gold of Nibelungen, The : wealth that 
brings misfortune. In allusion to the 
legendary Nibelungen hoard. 

Gold Purse of Spain, The ; Andalusia, the 
richest province of the kingdom. 

Gold Sli<^ in Waitl^ ; a court ofl&cial 
who carries a gilt stick on formal 
occasions. 

Gold of Tolosa, The ; ill gains that bring 
no prosperity. Caepio, the Roman 
Consul, on has invasion of Southern 
Gaul, appropriated the sacred gold and 
silver of Tolosa (Toulouse), but was 
shortly afterwards severely defeated 
by the Cimbrians {106 B.C,). 

Gold, Worth its weight in: of very great 
value. 

GoldbugS ; supporters of monometallism 
or the gold standard in the U.S. 

Golden Age, A : the period of the greatest 
literary and artistic excellence in a 
nation’s history. 

(Golden Agek The ; (i) the fabulous period 
when happiness was universal; (2) 
youth. 

Golden Age of Ghina, The : 626^84. 

Golden Age of Egypt, The ; 1336-1224 

B C 

Golden Age of Eiu^and, The: 1558-1603. 

Golden Age of Prance, The : Z640-X740. 

Golden Age of Germany, The : 15^9-58. 

Golden Age of Portugal, The ; 1383-1578. 

Golden Age of PrusEda, The : 1740-86. 

Golden Age of Bnssia, The : 1672-1725. 

Golden Age of Spain, The : 1474-1516. 

Golden Age of Sweden, The: 1523-1632. 

Golden Apple, A : a tomato. 

Ciolden The : Ball Hughes (d. 

1802-30), Eng. dandy, famous for his 
extravagance. 

Golden Book, A : a register of noble or 
distingc^hed persons; esp. that of 
the nobility of the Venetian Republic. 


[Golden 

Golden Bowl is broken. The: one’s 
strength is exhausted and death 
arrives. {Ecclesiastes, xii, 6] 

Golden Bri^e, A : an easy means of 
retreat. From a Fr. proverb, * Make a 
golden bridge for your enemy.* 

Golden Bull, A : a rnedieval charter of 
great importance, sealed with a golden 
bulla. Esp. that issued by the Emp. 
Charles IV in 1357, which laid down 
the rules for the election of the king 
of the Romans. 

Golden Calf, The: money. [Exodus, 
xxxii] 

Golden calf. To worship the : to be 
devoted to material interests. [Exodus 
xxxii] 

Gh>lden City, The : San Francisco, on 
account of its proximity to the gold- 
delds. 

Golden Fleece, The : one of the great 
orders of Imighthood of Spain and 
Austria, founded by Philip, Duke of 
Burgundy. In Grk, mycology the 
fleece of the ram on which Phrixus 
and Helle fled to Colchis, 

Golden Fleece of ihe North, The : the fur 
and peltry of Siberia. 

Golden Hind among Adventniers, A : a 

pioneer. 

Golden Horde, The : the body of Tartars 
who overran Russia in the 13th cent. 
(Sir Orda, the golden camp, the 
gorgeous tent of tiieir leader, Batu.) 

Golden Eite, The: the chief military 
order of Japan. 

Golden Legend, The : a collection of 
lives of the saints made by Jacopus 
de Voragine (Giaconia da Varaggio) 
(1230-1298). 

Golden Mean, The : a policy of 
moderation, avoiding extremes. De- 
rived from one of the maxims of 
Cleobulus (fl. 580-76 B.C.), poet and 
king of Lindus. [Earl of Surrey, 
Praise of Meane and Constant Estate 

{1557)] 

Golden Medidne, The: the elixir of 
life. 

Golden Mountains, To promise: see 
Promise. 

Golden Mouth: Chrysostom (347-407) » 
Grk. Church father. On account of 
his eloquence. 

Golden Number, The : (1) the number of 
any year in the Metonic lunar cycle 
of 19 years, in allusion to its im- 
portance in calculating the date of 
Easter; (2) any number that brings 
good luck. 



Golden] 163 

Golden Opinions, To earn : to earn 
respect and praise. [Shakespeare, 
Macbeth, I, vii, 11. 32-3 (1606)] 

Golden Rose, The : a jewel, in the form 
of a cluster of roses, awarded by the 
Pope every year to the queen who 
has earned it by her work for the 
Church. 

Golden Rule, The : (i) ‘ Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do 
you even so to them : for this is the 
law and the prophets,’ (Matthew, vii, 

12) ; (2) in mathematics, the Rule of 
Three. 

Golden Shoe, A : a large amount of 
money. 

Golden Shower, A : a bribe. In allusion 
to the legend of Jupiter gaining access 
to Danae in the disguise of a shower of 
gold. 

Golden State, The : California. In 
allusion to its gold mines. 

Golden Time, The : youth. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580)] 

Golden Town, The : Mainz, so-called in 
the Carlovingian period. 

Golden Wedding, A : the fiftieth anni- 
versary of a wedding. 

Golden World, The: the golden age 
(q.v,). 

Golgotha, A : (i) a place of martyrdom ; 

(2) a charnel-house. From the place 
of the Crucifixion, Aramaic, gul- 
galta, a skull. 

Golgotha, The City : Temple Bar, London, 
on which the heads of traitors used to 
be exhibited. 

Goliard, A : a wandering continental 
student of the 12th and 13th cents. 
under an imaginary patron, St. Golias 
(? Goliath). 

Goliatii, A : a giant. After the giant in 
the first book of Samuel. 

Gombeen Man, A (Celtic, hmhion, 
change) : in Ireland, a moneylender. 

Gondola of London, The : a hansom cab. 
So-called by Lord Beaconsfield. 

Gone on . • To be : to be enamoured of . . 

Gone under : failed financially ; sunk 
in the social scale. A drowning 
metaphor. 

Gone np the country : insolvent. A 
colonial expression. When a man in 
one of the colonial towns became 
bankrupt he used to go prospecting 
into the country to seek a change of 
fortune. 

GonerU, A : an unnatural daughter. 
After a character in Shakespeare, 
King Lear (1605-6). 


[Goose 

Good and all. For : finally. 

Good Books : cee Books. 

Good Earl, The : Anthony Ashley, 7th 
Earl of Shaftesbury (1801-85), 
philanthropist. 

Good Form: good breeding; good 
behaviour. A cricketing metaphor. 

Good Friday : the Friday before Easter 
Day, kept bjs the anniversary of the 
Crucifixion. 

Good as Gold, As : generally of children, 
submissive and well-behaved. This 
simile is of quite modem creation. 

Good Grace, With a : willingly. [Bacon, 
Essayes : Of Discourse (1625)] 

Good, To make : to succeed. 

Good Money after ba^ To throw : to 
venture still more in a speculation 
that has already proved unfortunate. 

Good Mother, A : a mother-in-law ; or 
step-mother. 

Good come out of Nazareth P Can any : 

what good is to be expected of such 
surroundings ? [John, i, 46] 

Good for noihing : worthless. [Bacon, 
Essayes : Of Goodnesse (1625)] 

Good Parliament, The : see Parliament. 

Good as a Play, As : phrase attributed to 
King Charles II of England on hearing 
a debate in pari, on Lord Ross’s 
Divorce Bill. 

Good Regent, The : James Stuart, Earl 
of Moray (1533-70), Regent of 
Scotland. 

Good Samaritan, A : one who befriends 
another who has no claim on him. 
[Luke, X, 30-7] 

Good Tom, To do a : to do a kindness. 
[Poston Letters, No. 706 (1472)] 

Good as one’s Word, To be as : to keep 
one’s word strictly. [Fulwell, Like 
Will to Like, 1. 622 (1568) ; Stanyhurst, 
Description of Ireland (1577)] 

Good one’s Word, To make : to fulfil one’s 
undertaking. [Knack to Know a 
Knave, 1. 66 (1594)] 

Goose, A : a foolish person. In allusion 
to the supposed stupidity of geese. 
[Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, II, 
iv (1591-3)] 

Goose, To ; Goose, To give the : to hiss. 
From the sounds uttered by geese. 
Theatre slang. 

Goose, To cook a person’s : to punish a 
person. In allusion to the story told 
of Eric, King of Sweden, who, when 
approaching an enemy’s town, was 
received in derision by a goose hung 
over the walk He subsequently took 
the town and burnt it. 



Goose] ^^4 

Goose Fair : a fair held about Michael- 
mas when, geese are a seasonable dish. 

Goose File : single file. 

Goose and give the giblets in alms« To 
steal a ; to amass wealth and to salve 
one*s conscience by giving a small 
portion of it in charity. [Howell 
(1659)] 

Goose that lays the golden eggs, To kill 
the 2 to overreach oneself and thereby 
destroy a source of profit. From the 
Grk. fable of the goose that laid the 
golden eggs. . ,1 • 

Goose Qnill, A : a pen. In allusion to 
the former use of goose quills for their 
manufacture. 

Goose, To shoe the (gray) : to spend one's 
time uselessly. [Inscription on one of 
the stalls of Whalley Church (1434) ; 
Skelton, Colin Clout (1510)] 

Goose, To be sound on the : to be staunch 
to one's party. Orig. to be a strong 
advocate of slavery. An Americanism. 

Goose Step, The : elementary military 
driU. 

Ctoose among Swans, A : see Swans. 

Goose, A Tilor’s : a tailor's iron. In 
allusion to the resemblance of its 
handle to the neck of a goose, or from 
the practice of roasting it. 

Gooseberry, Giant : see Giant. 

Gooseberry, Old : the devil. 

Cioosebeny Picker, A : a chaperon ; see 
Gooseberry, To play. 

Gooseberry, To play : to play propriety ; 
to act as chaperon. 

Gk>os6berry, To play old : to cause havoc. 
See Gooseberry, Old. 

Gooseberry Season, Big : see Big. 

Goose-cap, A : a stupid person. See 
Goose. 

Goose-flesh ; Goose-skin : a rough con- 
dition of the skin resembling that of a 
plucked goose. 

Gordian ; complicated. See Gk)rdian knot. 

Gordian Enot, A: a difficult, almost 
insoluble, problem. Gordius, a king 
of Phrygia, tied a knot in such a 
manner that it was impossible to im- 
loose it. The legend grew up that he 
who could solve it would gain the 
empire of Asia. Alexander the Great 
cut the knot with his sword. [Gosson, 
Playes Confuted (1582)] 

Gordto Knot, To eat the : to solve a 
difficult practical problem. See 
Gordian Knot. 

Gorgon, A : a very ugly or horrible 
object. After the three Gorgons, 
famous in mythology for their intense 


[Gothenburg 

ugliness, whose eyes (according to 
iEschylus the three sisters had only 
one eye, which they were able to pass 
from one to the other, between them) 
turned to stone all on whom they 
gazed. 

Gorgon’s Etead, A : an object that terri- 
fies ; see Gorgon. [Life and Death of 
Capt. Thos. Stukeley, 11 . 2104-5 (1605)] 

Gormogon, A : a member of a society 
formed early in the i8th cent, in 
imitation of the Freemasons. An 
invented word. 

Goshen, A : a long-desired goal. After 
the bountiful district in Egypt in which 
the Israelites sojourned, previous to 
the Exodus. 

Gosling, A : a simpleton ; see Goose. 

Gospel Truth : a statement to be 
depended on with as much reliance as 
the Gospel. [17th cent.] 

Gospel of Wealth, The : the theory that it 
is money alone that matters and that 
the acquisition of it should be the 
principal aim of man. 

Gospeller, A hot : an ardent Protestant. 
Tlie name was first given in derision 
in the i6th cent. 

Goth, A : a barbarian ; one heedless of 
the claims of the arts and sciences. 
After the people that overran and 
devastated the Roman Empire in the 
3rd and 5th cents. 

Goths and Vandals : uncultured people 
who pay no heed to the claims of art 
or literature. 

Gotham ; a name for New York City, 
given by Washington Irving in Salma- 
gundi (1807). See Gotham, Fools of. 

Gotham, Fools of; Gotham, a village 
near Nottingham, England. The sim- 
plicity of its inhabitants has been 
proverbial since at least early in the 
15th cent., when it was referred to in 
the Towneley Mysteries, This sim- 
plicity is said to have been simulated 
orig. in order to turn aside the wrath 
of a king. 

Gotham College: an imaginary insti- 
tution for the training of simpletons. 
[The Last Will and Testament of 
Charyng Crosse, p. 6 (1646)] 

Gotham, A man of: a simple person. 
See Gotham. 

Gothamites : inhabitants of New York. 
See Gotham and Gotham, Fools of. 

Gothenburg System, The : a system of the 
sale of intoxicants by the municipality, 
as introduced at Gothenburg, Sweden, 
in 1865. 



Gothic] 165 [Grampus 


Gothic : (i) of a medieval style of 

architecture ; (2) uncouth. The term 
was first applied to the style of archi- 
tecture contemptuously to indicate 
barbarism. See Goth. 

Gourd aad Fullam : two names for false 
dice. See Gourds. Fullam, because 
the dice are full or loaded. [Shakes- 
peare, Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iii, 
U. 93-4 (1600)] 

Gourds : loaded dice. From (Old Fr.) 
gourd, a swindle, or because the dice 
were hollowed like gourds before being 
filled with a heavy substance to give 
them a bias. 

Government of the People, hy the People 
and for the People : the watchword of 
the English Liberal Party. The phrase 
is American in origin and was coined by 
Theodore Parker (1810-60). In a 
slightly different form, ' The people's 
government, made for the people, 
made by the people, and answerable 
to the people,’ it was uttered by 
Daniel Webster (1782-1852) in 1830. 

Gowk, To hunt the : to go on a fool’s 
errand. Scottish, goi^, a foolish 
person. 

Gowk (Gouk) storm, A : a storm of brief 
duration, esp. in the spring (the time of 
the cuckoo). Gowk, a cuckoo. 

Gown, To wear the ; to be a clergyman. 
[Wm. Combe, Tour of Dr, Syntax 
(1812)] 

Gownsma^ A : a member of a univ. ; 
as distinguished from townsman, a 
non-uni V. resident in a univ. town. 

Gracchus, The Modem ; Count Honors 
de Mirabeau (1749-91), Fr. revol. and 
orator. After Tiberius Sempronius 
Gracchus (163-133 B.C.) and Gains 
Sempronius Gracchus (153-121 B.C.), 
who were famous Rom. tribunes and 
reformers. 

Grace Card, The : In Kilkenny, the six of 
hearts, the card on which a member of 
the Grace family of Courtstown 
indignantly rejected the invitation of 
William III to desert to him. 

Chrace Cup, The : the last cup ; the 
loving cup; formerly passed round 
the table after grace. 

Grace Darling : the daughter of Wm. 
Darling, lighthouse-keeper on one of 
the Fame Islands, who on the 7th 
September, 1838, heroically assisted 
her father to rescue a slupwrecked 
crew. 

Grace Darling of America, The: Ida 
Lewis (Mrs. W. H. Wilson), the 


daughter of the lighthouse-keeper in 
Newport Harbour who on five occasions 
rescued or assisted in rescuing persons 
from drowning. 

(jrace, To take heart of : to take courage 
from indulgence. [He3rwood, Proverhes 

(1546)] 

Gradasso, A : a bully. After a character 
in Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516). 

Gradgrind, A : a ‘ practical ’ man 
devoted to materialism. After a 
character in Dickens, Hard Times 

(1854)- 

Gtradns, A; Giadns ad Pamassnm, A 

(Lai., steps ; steps to Parnassus) : a 
Grk. or Lat. dictionary showing the 
quantities of vowels as an aid to the 
writing of Latin verse. 

Graeca Kdes (Lat,, Greek faith) : in 
allusion to the proverbial reputation of 
the Greeks for untrustworthiness. 

Grahamize, To : to open letters in the 
post. After Sir James Graham (1792- 
1861), who, when Home Secretary in 
1844, authorized the opening of 
Mazzini’s letters by the Post Office. 

Grail, The Holy ; the San Graal (Medieval 
Fr.) : the receptacle in which Joseph 
of Arimathea is said in medieval legend 
to have received the blood of Christ 
while on the Cross. The grail was lost 
and could be recovered only by a 
knight of irreproachable character. 

Grain, Against the : uneasily ; against 
one’s disposition. As cutting wood, 
etc., against the grain. [Wm. Cart- 
wright, The Ordinary, II, iii (1651)] 

Grain of mustard seed, A : a small seed 
out of which something great may 
develop. See Matthew, xiii, 31, where 
the black mustard which grows to a 
great height is probably intended. 

Gr^ of salt, With a : with reservations, 
A translation of the Lat. phrase. 
Cum grano salis. 

Gramercy, To get for : to get for nothing, 
merely for the thanks. Fr., grand 
merci, great thanks. 

Grammarians, The Mnce of: Appo- 
lonios of Alexandria (fi. 40 -*30 B.C.). 
So-called by Prisdan. 

Grampus, A : a person given to puffing 
and blowing, like the grampus, a sea- 
animal. 

Grampus, To blow the : to drench a 
person with water. [Fred. Marryat, 
Frank Mildmay (1829)] 

Grampus, To blow like a : see Grampus. 
[Peter Pindar, Subjects for Painters : 
The Gentleman and His Wife (1797)] 



Granary] i66 

Granary of Europe, The : Sicily. On 
account of its fertility. 

Grand Alliance, The: (i) England, 
Holland and the Empire against 
France and Spain, 1701 ; (2) England, 
Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden, 
against Napoleon, in 1813 ; (3) 

England, France, Russia, Japan, and 
afterwards Italy and the United States 
as well as smaller powers, against 
Germany and her allies, 1914. 

Grand Corruption : Sir Rob. Walpole 
(1676-1745), Prime Minister, on 
account of his practice of bribery. 

Grand Monaraue, Le [Fr., the Great 
Monarch) : Louis XIV of France. 

Grand Monde, Le : Great World, The. 

Grand Old Man, The : see G.O.M. 

Grand Old Man of India, The : Dadabhai 
Naoroji (1825-1917), Indian political 
reformer. ' The father of Indian 
nationalism,* the first Indian member 
of the House of Commons. 

Grand Old Party, The ; G.O.P., The : 
the Republican Party in the United 
States. The phrase was adopted in 
the full form by members of the party 
and in the contracted form as a term 
of derision by the Democrats, about 
1880. 

Grand S§rieux, An : see S6rieux. 

Grand Si^or, Ihe (It,, Gran signore, 
great lord) : the Sultan of Turkey. 

Grand Tour, The : an extended tour on 
the continent, a necessary completion 
of a young gentleman's education in 
the 18th and the first half of the 19th 
cent. 

Grande Armde, Le ( Fy„ the Great Army) : 
the army led by Napoleon against 
Russia in 1812. 

Grande Passion, La (Fr., the great 
passion) : passionate love. 

Gi^disonian : chivalrous, formally 
courteous amd somewhat platitudinous. 
After Sir Charles Grandison, the hero 
of Richardson's novel so entitled (1754). 

Grandmother, This beats my ; this causes 
me great surprise. 

Grandmother to suck eggs, To teach one’s: 
to attempt to instruct an expert in 
his own subject. 

Grandmother’s ohild, A ; a spoilt child. 
[Scott, Marmion, Canto III (1808)] 

Grangerize, To ; to add pictorial illustra- 
tions, etc., to a book already complete. 
After James Granger (1723-76), 
author of a Biographical History of 
England, written for the special pur- 
pose of extra illustrations, etc. 


[Gravelled 

Grangers, The : an American secret 
political society active between 1870 
and 1 880 ; also known as the Order of 
Husbandry, or Patrons of Husbandry. 

Granite City (Capital), The: Aberdeen. 

Granite Redoubt, The : the Grenadiers 
of the Consular Guard of France who 
withstood the Austrians as a waU of 
granite at the battle of Marengo in 
1800. 

Granite State, The : New Hampshire. 
On account of the considerable amount 
of granite found within its borders. 

Grape-monger, A : a wine-tippler. 
[Dekker, The Seueti Deadly Sinnes : 
Candlelight (1606] 

Grapes, Sour: an object not desired 
because it is unobtainable. From 
iEsop’s fable. The Fox and the Grapes, 

Ghasp the nettle. To : to face a difficulty 
resolutely. 

Grass, To cat one’s own : to earn one’s 
own living. 

Ghrass from under a person’s feet. To cut 
the : to thwart a person. 

Grass, To give : to admit oneself beaten. 
[Servius, To Virgil, Mneid, VIII, 128] 

Ghrass, Gone to : dead. In reference to 
the grass that grows on graves. 

Grass grow under one’s feet. To let no : 
to display energy. [Udall, Ralph 
Roister Doisier, III, iii, 179 (1550)] 

Grass to know where the wind dts, To 
pluck the : to make full use of one’s 
powers of observation. 

Ghass widow, A : a woman permanently 
or temporarily separated from her 
husband but not divorced from him. 
Corruption of * grace widow,’ a ^vidow 
by grace of courtesy. Orig. an un- 
married mother. [Sir John Kaye, 
English in India in Calcniia Review 
(1844)] 

Grasshopper, To sing like a : in allusion 
to the sounds made by grasshoppers 
when moving. 

Grattan’s Parliament : the Irish pari, of 
1782 to 1801 in the course of which 
Henry Grattan secured its indepen- 
dence of the English parliament. 

Grave as a judge, AS : sedate and serious. 
[Wesley, Maggots (1685)] 

Grave as an owl, As : very solemn in 
appearance. 

Grave, To make a person turn in his : 
to do that which would cause him deep 
distress if he were still living. 

Gravelled : confounded ; nonplussed. 
Metaphor drawn from the grounding 
of a ship. [Shakespeare, As You 



Gray] 

Like It, IV, i (1600) ; Ascham, The 
Schoolmastev, Bk. I (1570)] 

Chray : see Grey. 

Grease a person’s palm (fist), To : to 
bribe. [Nat. Woodes, Conflict of 
Conscience, III, iii (1581)] 

Grease the wheels. To : by gifts or other- 
wise, to remove difficulties. [15th 
cent.] 

Greaser, A : a contemptuous name for 
Mexicans and other Latin Americans 
current in the U.S. Jhe term ori^n- 
ated during the first war with Mexico, 
and is supposed to have been derived 
from the habits of the Mexicans. 

Great Cham of Literature, The : Samuel 
Johnson (1709-84). So-called by 
Tobias Smollett. 

Great Commoner, The : William Pitt 
the elder (1708-78). Pitt had him- 
self termed Sir John Barnard (1685- 
1764), one of the members for the City 
of London, the Great Commoner. 

Great cry and little wool : see Cry. 

Great Duke, The : the first Duke of 
Wellington (1769-1852). 

Great Elehee, The : Stratford Canning, 
Viscount Stratford de Redclifie (1786- 
1880), British amb. to Turkey, 
Turk., ilchi, ambassador. 

Great Elector, The : Frederick William 
(1620-88), Elector of Brandenburg. 

Great Frederick, The : Frederick II 
(1712-86), King of Prussia. 

Great Go : the popular name for the 
B.A. degree examination at Cam- 
bridge ; formerly the same as Greats 
{q.v.). 

Great Gun, A : see Gun. 

Great Hundred, A : 120. 

Great King, The : Cyrus, King of 
Persia (6th cent. B.C.). Self-styled. 

Great Magician, The : Sir Walter Scott 
(1771-1832). So-called by John Wilson. 

Great Marquis, The : (i) James Graham, 
Marquis of Montrose (1612-50), 
Scottish royalist hero ; (2) Dom 

Sebastiano Jose de Carvalho, Marquis 
de Pombal (1699-1782), Portuguese 
statesman. 

Great Million, A : a billion. 

Great Mogul, The : the head of the 
Mogul Empire. 

Great Moralist, The : Dr. Samuel John- 
son (1709-84). 

Great Mother, The: (i) Demeter, the 
goddess of vegetation and protectress 
of social order and of marriage ; (2) 
the Earth, according to the Delphic 
Oracle, 


167 [Greedy 

Great Perhaps, The : the future state, 
according to Rabelais (1485-1553). 
Great Powers, The : the principal powers. 
Orig. Britain, France, Prussia, Austria 
and Russia ; later with the addition of 
Italy and the substitution of Germany 
and Austro-Hungary, for Prussia and 
Austria ; still later with the addition 
of the United States and Japan and 
the omission of Austro-Hungary, 

Great Scot(t) : an euphemism for Great 
God. 

Great Tom : the great bell of the Tom 
Gate, Christ Church, Oxford. 

Great Unknown, The : (i) Sir Walter 
Scott (1771-1832), anonymous author 
of The Waveyley Novels ; term applied 
by Jas. Bahantyne, ids publisher; 
(2) Death. 

Great Unpaid, The : English justices of 
the peace or honorary magistrates. 
Grreat Unwashed, The : the lower classes. 
Term first applied by Edmund Burke 

(1729-97)- 

Great World, The (Fr., Le grand monde) : 
aristocratic society. 

Greats : the final honours examination 
(as a rule in classics) at Oxford Uni- 
versity, 

Greatest happiness of the greatest number. 
The : a political maxim adopted by 
Jeremy Bentham in Liberty of the 
People (1821). The phrase has been 
traced back in English to Hutcheson, 
Inquiry Concerning Moral Good and 
Evil, sect. 3 (1720), but it appears also 
in Plato, Republic, IV, i. 

Greatheart, A : a philanthropist and 
benefactor. After Mr. Greatheart in 
Bunyan, Pilgrim* s Progress (1678). 
Ghee, Un {Fr., 3, Greek) : a cheat. After 
a Grk. knight who was discovered 
cheating at cards in the palace of 
Louis XIV. 

Grecian, A : a member of the highest 
classical form at Christ’s Hospital. 
Grecian bend. The : an afiected pose of 
the body, fashionable in England 
about 1875. 

Greco, The (it., Greek) : the north-east 
wind. 

Gree, To bear the : to carry ofi the prize ; 
to be pre-eminent. [Rob. Ferguson, 
Elegy on the Deaih of Scots Music, 

11- 49-52 (1772)] 

Greedy as a cow in a clover-fiel^ As : 

[R. Cumberland, The Fashionable 
Lover, I, i (1772)] 

Greedy as a hawk. As : see Hungry as a 
hawk, As. 



Greedy-guts] ^68 [Green 


Greedy-gnts, A : a greedy person. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (154^)] 

Greek, A : a swindler. See Grec. 

Greek to me, It is ; it is unintelligible. 
[Shakespeare, Julius Ccesaf^ I, ii, 87 
(1603)] 

Greek Calends, On the : Greek 

Kalends. 

Greek Commentator, The : Feman Nunen 
de Guzman (1470-1553). Spanish 
Hellenist. 

Greek Cross, The : see Cross, Greek. 

Greek Drama, Founder of the: 

.SEschylus (525-456 B.C.). 

Greek Ease : laziness. In allusion to the 
proverbial laziness of the Greeks. 

Greek Faith : see Graeca Fides. 

Greek Eire : material used for setting fire 
to hostile ships, etc. S o-called because 
first used by the Greeks of the Eastern 
Empire. 

Greek Gift, A : a gift presented to conceal 
treachery. After the gift of a wooden 
horse presented by the Greeks to the 
Trojans, which being filled with men 
led to the capture of Troy. [Virgil, 
Mneid^ II, 49] 

Gre^ as a Gre^ cobbler. To know as 
much : to have a pali^ knowledge 
of the Greek language. The simile 
was used by Bentley (1662—1742), the 
classical scholar, in allusion to Joshua 
Barnes (1654-1712), the Regius Pro- 
fessor of Greek at Cambridge. 

Gre^ meets Greek, When : when two 
well-matched combatants meet. The 
phrase is derived from the proverb, 

' When Greek meets Greek, then comes 
the tug of war,’ which itself first 
appeared, in a slightly different form, 
in Nathsmiel Lee, The Rival Queens, 
TV, ii (1677). 

Greek Kalends, On the : never. There 
were no kalends in the Grk. calendar. 
The Emp. Augustus (B.C. 63-A.D. 14) 
used to say he would pay on the Greek 
kalends when he wish^ to intimate 
that a person would not pay at all. 
The Rom, kalends was the usual pay- 
day. Queen Elizabeth used the 
phrase in a reply to the envoys of the 
King of Spain. 

Gre^ life, : a sound mind in a 
healthy body. In allusion to the cult 
of the ^ Games * by the ancient Greeks. 

Gre^ As merry as a : drunk. Possibly 
a corruption of ‘ As merry as a Grig * 
(^.w.). See also Merry Greek, A. The 
Romans used to refer to the Greeks as 
fond of good living and excessive 


drinking and they used the word, 
gfoecari, to express the idea of good 
feeding and drinking. 

Greek, To play the: (i) to drink to 
excess. See Greek, As merry as a, and 
Grec, Un ; (2) to cheat, esp. at cards. 

Gre^ without knowing it. To speak : to 
use medical language. [Earle, Micro- 
cosmography : A Meere Dull Phisician 
(1628)] 

Green ; young ; inexperienced ; foolish. 
From the sense of immature. [Earl of 
Surrey, Restlesse State of a Loner (1557); 
Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, iii, loi 
(1602-3)] 

Green, The: R-C. Ireland. In allusion 
to the Irish national colour. 

Green Apron : see Apron. 

foeen Cloth, The Board of : a department 
of the Lord Steward’s office in the 
British royal household. From the 
green-covered table at which its 
business used to be conducted. 

Gteeen Dogs : any extinct race. 

Green Dragoons, The : the i3ih Dragoons 
now the 13th Hussars. In allusion 
to the green facings of their uniforms. 

Green in one’s eye. To see any : to see 
indications of gullibility. See Green. 

Green-eyed Monster, The : jealousy. 
[Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, III, 
ii, no (159b)] 

Green Glasses, To look through : to be 
jealous. 

Green Goose, A : a young goose. 

Green as grass, As: easily deceived. 
[Shakespeare, Midsummer Night* s 

Dream, V, i, 326 (1590)] See Green. 

Green Hwd, A : a sailor of the lowest 
class of capacity. 

Gheen Head, A: a young, inexperienced 
person. [Udall, Diotrepkes (1588)] 

Green Horse, The: the 5th Dragoons. 
In allusion to their green facing. 

Green Howards, The : the 19th Regiment 
of Foot (Princess of Wales’s Own) 
whose colonel, from 1738 to 1748, was 
the Hon. Charles Howard and whose 
facings were green. 

Green lisdand (ble)» The : Ireland. On 
account of its verdure. 

Ghreen, To keep a thing : to keep a thing 
fresh (in one’s memory). [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Revenge (1625)] 

Green Labour : the lowest paid labour, 
esp. in the tailoring trade. See Greener. 

Green Linnets, The : the 39th Recent 
of Foot, now the Dorsetshire Regiment. 
In allusion to the green facings of their 
uniforms. 



Green] 

Green Men : savages. Orig. wild men 
of the woods ; later, American-IndiaJis. 

Green Moontain Boys : troops from 
Vermont raised in 1775. See Green 
Mountain State. 

Green Mountain StaiOi The (Fr.. vert 
mont, green mountain) : Vermont. 

Green Bibhon Day : in Ireland, March 
i8th, St. Patrick's Day, when green 
ribbon is worn as a badge by Irish- 
men. 

Green Boom, The : the rest room for 
actors at the theatre. The room at 
Drury Lane appropriated to that 
purpose by Gamck had green walls. 

Gr^ ^om, tqJTr : to gossip about 
the theatre. See Green Room. 

Green Bushes for Strangers : a symbol of 
hospit^ty. From the foimer practice 
of strewing fresh rushes as a carpet 
when about to entertain a distin- 
guished guest. [Jno. Heywood, 
Proverbes (1346)] 

Green Sea, !I^e : the Persian Gulf. In 
allusion to the colour of a strip of 
water near the Arabian Coast. 

Green Sleeves, A : a flirt ; an incoxistant 
girl lover. [A New Northern Ditty of 
the Lady Green Sleeves (1580)] 

(Sreen Thursday : Maundy Thursday. 

Green Wound, A : a recent, unhealed 
wound. [Richard of Gloucester (1297)] 

Greenhao^ A: a U.S. currency note, 
with its badk printed in gpreen. The 
name is said to have been invented by 
Salmon Portland Chase (1808-73}, 
Amer. statesman. 

Greenback Party, The : an Amer. political 
party (1874-S4) which advocated the 
payment of the American National 
Debt in paper money. See Greenback. 

Gxeenbacker, A : an advocate of the 
issue to an unlimited extent of paper 
money. See Greenback. 

Greenbag, A : a lawyer. In allusion to 
the bag in which legal papers used to 
be carried. 

Greener, A {Germ., ein gritner, a 
green or foolish one): one who is 
inexperienced ; esp. a recently arrived 
alien workman. [Daily Chronicle^ 
April 18, x888] See Green. 

Greoigageb A : a green plum introduced 
into Roglmid by Sir Wm. Gage 
(c. 1725). 

Greenhorn, A : a raw youth. An 
allusion to the undevdlop^ horns of 
a male calf. 

Greei^ for . . To have a : to have a 
liking for . . 


Z69 [Gretna 

Greenlandman’s Galley : the extreme of 
bad language. In allusion to the 
customary obscenity of Greenland 
seamen. 

Greenwich Barber, A : one who sdls sand 
from the Greenwich pits. Greenwich 
barbers are said to * shave the pits.* 
Greenwioh Time : standard time in 
accordance with the meridian of 
Greenwich. 

Grego, A (Port., Gredc) : a kind of 
short cloak or jacket, such as those 
worn by Greeks in the Levant. 
Gregodan, A : a wig. After Gregory, a 
barber in the Strand, who first made 
them in England. 

Gregorian Calendar, The : the calendar 
in general use, introduced by Pope 
Gregory XIII in 1582. 

Gregorian Chant, A : a plain chant used 
in church services and introduced by 
Pope Gregory I in the 6th cent. 
Gregorian Ton^ : see Gregorian chant. 
Gregorian Tree, The : the gallows. From 
Gregory (sen.), Gr^ory (|un.) and 
Gregory Brandon, three successive 
hangmen of London in the reign of 
James I. 

Gi^orian Water : Holy water. After 
Pope Gregory I who strongly advo- 
cated the use of it. 

Gregorian Tear, A : a year according to 
the Gregorian Calendar (7.V.). 

Gregory, A : a school feast. After St. 
cSegory's Day, March 12, a sdiolars’ 
festival. 

Gregory, A : a hangman. See Gregorian 
tree. 

Gregory knUdits (St Gregory’s Knights) : 
contemptible boasters ; sham soldiers. 
After the children who played at 
soldiers on St. Gregoiy*s Day. 
Gregory Powder : a medical drug. After 
James Gregory (1758-1822), Scot 
ph3rsician. 

Gienadim: orig. troops employed in 
throwing hand grenades. 

Gresham, To dine with Sir Thomas : see 
Dine. 

Gretohen, A : an unsophisticated Germ, 
girl. After the heroine of Goethe's 
Faust. 

Gretna Green : a village just over 
Scot, border, famous for the celebratioo: 
of runaway marriages, which could 
not be eflected in England. Sn^ 
marriages were prevented by l^is- 
lation in 1856. 

Gr^na (Gretna Green) Marriages: see 
Gretna Green. 



Grey 170 [Groaning 


Grey Cloak, A : an alderman who has 
served as mayor. In allusion to the 
colour of the fur on his costume. 

Grey Coat, A : a Cumberland ^^eoman. 
In allusion to the colour of the home- 
spun clothing of that county. 

Grey Friars : Franciscans or Friars of the 
Order of St. Francis. In allusion to 
the colour of their clothing. 

Grey Goose wing, A : an arrow, which 
used to be winged with grey goose 
feathers. 

Grey Groat, A : an object of little value. 

Grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, To 
bring down one’s : to cause pain and 
sorrow to an old man. [Genesis, 
xlii, 38] 

Grey Hare, A : a wife who rules her 
husband. In allusion to the proverb, 

' The grey mare is the better horse." 

Grey of the Homing, The : the twilight. 
[Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 

19 (1591-3)] 

Greybeard, A : (i) an old man ; (2) a 
large earthenware jug or jar for spirits. 

Greycoat, A : a Russian soldier. In 
allusion to the colour of his coat. 

Greycoat Parson, A : an impropriator 
or tenant who hires the tithes. 

Grief, To come to : to meet with mis- 
forinne, in material affairs. 

Griffin, As rich as a : in allusion to the 
fabulous animals, the griffins, which, 
according to Grk. legend, used to keep 
watch over the gold of Scythia. 

Griffin, A young : a cadet from India, 
half English, half Indian. In allusion 
to the fabulous monster, the griffin, 
half lion, half eagle. 

Girths, A : a safe man. A pun, in 
allusion to the firm of C. H. Griffiths 
and Sons, safe manufacturers (19th 
and 20 cents.). 

Grig, As merry as a : the term * grig" 
has, or has had, many meanings. It is 
in one place or another a synonym for 
a short-legged hen, a young eel, a 
grasshopper, a cricket, a tadpole, a 
gnat dancing in the sun, a bantam, a 
young child, a wandering dancer and 
tumbler ; in fact, anything that moves 
with a light, lively motion. It has | 
also been suggested that the phrase is 
a corruption of ‘ As merry as a Greek " 
iq.v.). See also Merry Greek, A. 
[Vanbrugh and Cibber, The Provoked 
Husband, V, i (1728)] 

Grig, To swim like a : in this phrase 
* grig ’ is employed as a S5mon3nn for 
an eel. 


Grille, The : the lattice in front of the 
Ladies" Gallery in the House of 
Commons, abolished in 1917. 

Chim Death, Like : doggedly. [Shakes- 
peare, Taming of the Shrew, Ind., i, 
35, (1596)] 

Grim, The Giant : a giant. [Bunyan, 
Pilgrim* s Progress (1678)] 

Grimalkin : (i) an old cat, lit., grey 
malkin (a dimin. of Maud or Matilda) ; 
(2) a fiend supposed to resemble a 
grey cat. 

Grim-gribber : legal proceedings. The 
name of an imagmary estate referred 
to in a legal discussion in Steele, 
Conscious Lovers (1722). 

Grm and bear it. To : to show no other 
sign of impatience than a grin in sub- 
mitting to unpleasantness. 

Grind a person down, To : to deal 
harshly with; to oppress. [Bacon, 
Advice to Villiers (1626)] 

Grind for an examination. To : to study 
intently for an examination. Meta- 
phor derived from a mill. 

Grind the face of . . To : to oppress ; 
to deal harshly with , . [Isaiah, iii, 

15] 

Grind, To t^e a : to take a walk ; to 
take part in a steeplechase. Univ. 
slang. 

Grinder, To take a : to make an o3ensive 
gesture with the hand and the nose. 
[Dickens, Pickwick Papers, xxxi 
(1836)] 

Grindstone, To hold (tie) a person’s nose 
to the 1 see Nose. 

Gringo, A : a Mexican name for an 
inhabitant of the United States. 

Griselda ; Grisilda, A : a patient, faithful 
wife ; from the name of a character in 
one of Boccaccio’s Decameron. [Geo. 
Cavendish, Life and Death of Wolsey 

(1557)] 

Grisette, A : a young Frenchwoman of 
the working classes ; orig. a cheap, 
coarse dress of grey cloth worn 
generally by working women. Fr., 
gris, grey. 

Gnst to the mill. To bring : to afford one 
an advantage or an opportunity of 
profit. [Golding, Calvin on Deut., 
cxxiii, 755 (1583)] 

Groaning Cake, A : a cake provided for 
visitors to a woman after childbirth. 
[Groaning (dial.), lying in] 

Groaning Chair, The : the chair in which 
a woman recovering from childbirth 
receives her friends. See Groaning 
Cake. 



Groaning] i 

Groanmg Cheese : see Groaning Cake. 

Groaning Malt : liquid refreshment 
provided for visitors to a woman after 
childbirth. See Groaning Cake. 

Groat, An old Harry : see Harry Groat. 

Groats in kail. To get : to be paid in one’s 
own coin. 

Grohiai^ A : a boor ; a clown. After 
Grobianus, an ima^ary person 
referred to by Germ, writers in the 15th 
and 1 6th cents, as the type of boorish- 
ness. See Grobianus et Grohiana, 
books of rules how to be boorish 
(1549-58) by Dedekind. 

Grog : a mixture of rum or other spirit 
and water. From ‘ Old Grog ’ (Adm. 
Edw. Vernon (1684-1757) who wore a 
grogram cloak, and diluted the sailors* 
rum with water (1740). 

Groggy : intoxicated ; unsteady or 
staggering, more or less resembling 
one of the symptoms of intoxication. 
See Grog. 

Grooms, Blood of the : see Blood. 

Groher, A : bookbinding in a highly 
decorative style. From Jean Grolier 
(1479-1565), Fr. statesman, patron of 
learning and book collector. 

Groshec (Fr., gros bee, large nose) : 
Napoleon III. A nickname given on 
account of his large nose. 

Ground, To break : to commence an 
undertaking. 

Ground, To bring to the : to over- 
throw. 

Ground firoxn under. To cut the : to 
deprive of one’s basis or support. 

Ground, To be dashed to the : (of hopes), 
to fail to be realized ; to come to 
naught. 

Ground, Down to the : completely. 
[Judges, XX, 21, 25] 

Ground, To fall to the : (of schemes), to 
fail to become realized. 

Ground, To gain : to make progress in 
an undertaking. 

Ground, To hold one’s : to maintain 
one’s position. i 

Ground, To lose : to be out-distanced in i 
competition ; to fall away instead of ! 
maintaining one’s position. 

Ground, To meet a person on his own : 
to contend or argue with a person on ; 
a matter or in circumstances of his 
own choice. 

Ground, To stand one’s : to maintain 
one’s position in argument or other- 
wise. 

Ground^floor, To get in on the: to 
obtain an opportunity for a fortunate 


71 [Gudgeons 

speculation or investment in advance 
of others or of the general public. 

Groundling, A : an uncultivated spectator 
of a play, or reader. In allusion to 
those who occupy the ground or pit of 
a theatre. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, 
ii, 12 (1602-3)] 

Grouse’s Day, St. ; Grouse, Festival of 
St. : Aug. 12th ; the day on which 
grouse shooting commences. 

Grout-head, A : a stupid person. [Bale, 
English Votaries, II, E iii (1550)] 

Growler, A : a four-wheeled hackney- 
carriage. In allusion to the proverbial 
bad temper of their drivers. 

Grub Street : unattached writers for 
journals and publishers as a body, as a 
rule underpaid. After Milton Street, 
formerly Grub Street, in London, 
where such writers used to congregate. 

Gruel, To get one’s : to receive punish- 
ment. 

Gruel, To give a person his : to punish 
(defeat) a person. 

Gruelling, A ; a punishment. From the 
phrase, * To get one’s gruel,* to receive 
punishment. 

Grumbletonians : a name of the Country 
Party in Great Britain, borne at the 
end of the 17th cent. An invented 
word. 

Grundy, Mrs. : an imaginary censor of 
public and private morals. After a 
character in Thomas Morton, Speed 
the Ploi-tgh (1798), who was set up by 
one of the other characters in the play 
as a standard of propriety. 

Grundyism, A : conventionalism ; 

prudery. See Grundy, Mrs. 

Guam, To dear out for : see Clear. 

Gudgeon, A bait to catch a : anything 
that will deceive a credulous person. 
For * Gudgeon ’ as a synonym for a 
credulous person, see Shakespeare, 
Merchant of Venice, I, iii (1596). 

Gudgeon, To play the : to deceive ; to 
cheat. In allusion to the use of a 
gudgeon as a bait. 

Gudgeon, To swallow a ; to be easily 
deceived. See Gudgeons, To gape for. 
[Lyly, Euphues : The Anatomy of 

(1579)] 

Gudgeons, To bite like : to show oneself 
credulous. See Gudgeon, A bait to 
catch a. [Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to 
the Royal Academicians, IX (1783)] 

Queteeons, To gape for : to be easily 
deceived. In allusion to the attract- 
iveness of a gudgeon as a bait. 
[Holinshed, II, 91-2 (1577)] 



OudDh] 172 [Habeas 


Chidph Fond, UChe : the sum agr^ to 
be paid by Prussia to ^e King of 
Hanover as compensation for the 
cancellation of his sovereign righis in 
1866. This sum was afterwards seized 
by Prussia and used for subventioning 
the Germ, press. 

Ckidph or Ghibdlizie, Either : one party 
or the other. The Geulphs and the 
Ghibdlines . were the Papal and 
Imperial parties respectively in 
medieval Italy. [Aschamj Ths 
Schoolmaster, Bk. I (1570)] 

Guerre des Amonreuz, Le (Fr,, War of 
the lovers) : the war between Henry 
III of Prance and Henry of Navarre in 
1580, which arose out of a court 
intrigue. 

Gaevanst, A : a writer in a very onate 
or euphuistic style. After Antonio de 
Guevara (c. 1490-1544), Span, writer. 

Ghiillotine, The: (i) a machine for 
decapitating criminala and other 
offenders ; {2) a system of closure of 
pari, discussion on a measure by means 
of time'-limits for the consideration of 
different clauses or groups of clauses. 
After Jos. Ignatius Guillotin (173S- 
1814), a Fr. physician, who advocated 
its adoption in place of the rack and 
other instruments of torture during 
the French Revolution. 

Gninei^ A : an obsolete Eng. gold coin ; 
the sum of 21 shillings. Orig. coined 
from gold from the Guinea Coast of 
Africa, which was captured from the 
Dutch in 1666. 

Qxdnearpigs A : (i) a midshipman in the 
East Ind. Service: just as a guinea- 
pig is neither a pig nor has any 
coimection with the Guinea Coast, so a 
midshipman is neither an officer nor a 
sailor ; (2) a director of a public com- 
pany who accepts the office merely for 
the fees atta^ed to it : in allusion to 
a guinea, the standard fee paid to 
directors for attendance at a meeting ; 
(3) a special juryman who is paid a 
gidnea a case ; (4) a military officer on 
special duty who receives an allowance 
of a guinea a day ; (5) a clergyman of 
the Church of England actmg as a 
substitute, who receives payment of a 
guinea a sermon. 

GuiiieTerf A : a wanton. After the 
Queen of King Arthur. 

Gn& of August; The : the ist of August. 
Lat., ptla, the throat or entrance into. 

Gulf b^een, A great : a separation or 
division almost impassable. 


Golf Sta^ The: Florida, Alabama, 
Mississip^, Louisiana and Texas ; the 
states of the Union which border on 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

Gum tree, T 7 p a : at the end of one’s 
tether. An Americanism. 

Gammed velvet. To &et like : velvet was 
formerly occasionally treated with 
to make it stiff and then quickly 
ed itself out. 

Gan, A great : a person of distinction or 
importance. I^b. a transfer from 
the ordnance sense as distingnished 
from a small gun or musket. [Peter 
Pindar, Progress of Knowledge (1792)] 

Gun money : money coined by James II 
in Ireland from gun-metal. 

Gnn, Son of a : (i) a somewhat con- 
temptuous desig^tion, applied orig. 
to boys bom aboard ship, the child of a 
naval officer or officer of the mercantile 
marine ; (2} a jovial fellow. In 

allusion to ' gun * in the sense of a 
flagon of ale. 

Gong, To blow great : see Blow. 

Guns, To ran away from one’s own : see 
Run. 

Gons, To stand (stl<&) to one’s : see 
Stand. 

Gonner’s daughter. The: iffie gim to 
which a seaman was bound while he 
received punishment. A naval tenn. 

Gnnter, Acoording to : correctly and 
systematically. After Edmund 
Gunter (1581-1626), Eng. mathe- 
matician and inventor. 

Gatter-blood, A : a person of low birth. 
[Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. 7 (1822)] 

Gutter snipe, A : a child of the lowest 
class, brought up in riie gutters ; one 
who r^es among the refuse of the 
gutter for tm, etc. 

Giv, A : Guy Irawkes, A : a person of 
ludicrous appearance. In allusion to 
the effigy 01 Guy Fawkes, conspirator, 
conveyed through the streets on 
the 51^ November, in commemoration 
of his abortive plot. 

Gyges, Asxiohas : very wealthy. Gyges 
was King of Lydia fi^ 716 to 678 B.C. 

Gypsy: see Gipsy. 


Hab or nab [Med. Eng., Have or not 
have): win or fail; at random. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Habeas Corpus : one of tiie foundations 
of British liberty ; the Act of Parlia- 
ment (1679) which requires a jailer to 
produce every prisoner for trial. 




Habeas] 173 

(Lat.) You are to produce the body, 
the opening words of an old writ in 
English law calling upon the custodian 
of a prisoner to produce his charge 
in court. 

Habeas Corpus Act of Rome, The : the 

Lex Valeria de Provocatione (509 B.C.). 

Habitans : the Fr.-Canad. fanners in the 
Province of Quebec. 

Hack, A : a hired horse or carriage ; a 
literary or other drudge. Abbrevi- 
ation of hackney {q.v.). [Chaucer, 
Canterbury Tales (14th cent.)] 

Hack, A literary : see Hack. 

Hack writing : see Hack. 

Hackney (horse), A (Er., haquende) : a 
saddle-horse, not thoroughbred ; a 
hired horse. [Poston Letters, No. 446 
(1462)] 

Hatdmey coach (caniage) : a hired coach. 
Fr., kaquenie, any horse that is not 
thoroughbred ; hence a hired coach- 
horse. 

Hackney woman, A : a prostitute ; one 
who hires herself out. 

Hackneyed : of an expression, etc., so 
frequently used as to have lost its 
freshness. 

Haddock to paddock, To bring ; to waste 
all one’s possessions. [Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Hades : the infernal regions. After the 
name of the Grk. god of the lower 
regions. 

Ha^ographa, The : the third Jewish 
division of the Old Testament, viz.. 
Chronicles, Ruth, Esther, Ezra, 
Nehemiah, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, 
Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamen- 
tations and Daniel. 

Hague Congress, The : a congress of the 
Powers, held at The Hague in 1899, to 
consider the question of international 
disarmament. Out of the Congress 
arose an international court of arbi- 
tration. 

Hail fellow well met, A : one on intimate 
and friendly terms. From the 
greeting * Hail Fellow ! ’ 

Hair, Against the : against the grain ; 
lit., contrary to the direction in which 
an animal’s hair lies naturally. [T. 
Usk, Testament of Love, II, iv (1387)] 

Hair, To a : exactly. [Ben Jonspn, 
Cynthia's Revels, II, i (1600)] 

Hair curl. To m^e a person’s : see 
Make. 

Hair to draw a waggon. To take a : to 

act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 


[Halgaver 

Hair and hide (i) ; Hair and hoof (2) : 
entirely, [(i) St. Cuthbert (1450) ; 
Jean Irvine, Collection of Dying 
Testaments (1705)] 

Hair to make a tether of, A : an excuse 
for much fuss. 

Hair in one’s neck, A : a cause of 
annoyance. [RcUe's Ravine, III (1450)] 

Hair, Not to turn a : to remain un- 
disturbed despite surrounding excite- 
ment. Lit. of a horse, not to sweat 
and roughen its hair in consequence 
of fear or disturbance. 

Hair of . . Within a : within very little 
of .. 

Hair’s breadth, A : the minimum of 
narrowness. [Heywood, Proverhes 
(1546) ; Lilly, Gallathea, II, iii (1592)] 

Hair s, To split : to enter into and to 
give undue importance to minutiae. 

H^cyon days : days of peace and restful- 
ness ; the days immediately preceding 
and succeeding the shortest day, which 
are supposed to be free from storms. 
From ' halcyon,’ a name for the king- 
fisher which is supposed to lay her 
eggs during the halcyon days. 

Half, One’s better : one’s wife. 

Half-lights, At : indistinctly. [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Simulation (1625)] 

Halfseas over : intoxicated. A nautical 
term for a ship in full sail rushing 
before the wind. From a resemblance 
between the movements of the man 
and of the ship if the wind is subject to 
changes. Said to have been derived 
orig. from Dutch, op zee zober, over sea 
beer. [The Spectator, No. 616 (1714)] 

Half-bree^ : see Featherheads. 

Half-done, as Elgin was burnt : in the 
Scottish civil war of 1452, the Earl of 
Huntley burnt the half of the town of 
Elgin that belonged to the Douglases, 
but spared the other half which was 
his own property. 

Half-hearted : not thorough ; not having 
the whole of one’s heaxt, energies, or 
interest in the matter. 

Halfway house, A : a building, generally 
an inn, situated approximately half- 
way between two towns, or stages in a 
journey. 

Halfway, To meet : to make a compro- 
mise with . . [Nashe, Ufifortmiate 
Traveller (1594)] 

Halgaver, Summoned before the Mayor 

of : for an ofience against the laws of 
tidiness. The mayor was a personage 
in the Carnival held in July on the 
Moor of Halgaver in Cornwall. 



Halidom} 174 

Halidom, By i 3 ay {Germ., Heiligtum) : 
an oath.. Halidom = anything con- 
sidered holy. 

KalifaT Law : capital punishment for a 
relatively trivial ofience. In allusion 
to the Halifax Gibbet Law which laid 
down death as the punishment for the 
theft of anything of the value of 
13 J pence or over. 

Hall Sunday : the Sunday before Shrove 
Tuesday. A corruption of Hallow 
(Holy) Tuesday. 

Haileltijah lass, A : a girl member of the 
Salvation Army. 

HftllmftTk, A : a stamp of genuineness 
and quality. Orig. only the stamp 
impressed on gold and silver plate by 
the Goldsmith's Company at their Hall, 

Hallow Mass Day : properly All Hallow 
Mass Day. The feast of All Hallows 
or All Saints. 

Hallow Mass Eve : All Hallow Mass 
Eve : see Hallow Mass Day. 

Hallstadt : relating or belonging to 
European prehistoric civilization. In 
allusion to Hallstadt in Austria where 
a collection of weapons, etc., illus- 
trating the transition from the bronze 
to the iron age was found. 

Halves, To go : to share equally. 

Ham, A child of : a negro. In allusion 
to the supposed descent of the inhabi- 
tants of Africa from Ham, the son of 
Noah. 

Hamaco, As mad as : Hamaco was a 
term used for a fool in Turkey. [Scott, 

St Ronan’s Well, ch. 37 (1824J] 

Haman’s, A gibbet higher than : in 
allusion to the gallows on which 
Haman was hanged. See the Booh of 
Esther. 

Hamilton, The Be^ of Mr. Patrick : 

Patrick Hamilton (1504-28) was 
burnt to death by Cardinal Beaton. His 
martyrdom was one of the contributing 
causes of the Reformation in Scotland. 
Hamilton, Single-speech : William 
Gerard Hamilton (1729-96), Eng. 
politician. His maiden speech in the 
House of Commons was a remarkable 
success and gained for him the 
sobriquet. 

Hamle^ A : an introspective, philo- 
sophical man of dreams rather than 
of action. In allusion to the hero of 
Shakespeare's play of that name 
(1602-3). 

Hamlet with the part of the Prince left 

out : with the principal character 
omitted ; just as Shakespeare's 


[Hand 

Hamlet would be if the character of the 
Prince of Denmark were lacking. 

Hammer, The : Judas Maccabaeus. 
Maccabaeus = a hammer. 

Hammer and anvil. Between : caught 
between two opposing forces. [Rabe- 
lais, Paniagruel, IV, 29 ; Second 
Maiden* s Tragedy, I, ii (1611)] 

Hammer away at . . To : to devote one- 
self energetically to . . 

Hammer, To he brought under the : to 
be sold by auction. In allusion to the 
auctioneer's hammer. 

Hammer, To go under the : to be sold by 
auction. In allusion to the auctioneer's 
mallet. 

Hammer of Heretics, The : (i) Pierre 
d'Ailly (1350-1420), Fr. Cardinal and 
President of the Council of Constance ; 
(2) John Faber (1470-1541), from the 
title of his work, Malleus Hereticorum, 
the hammer of heretics. 

Hammer of the Monks, The : Thomas 
Cromwell (1490-1540), Eng. religious 
reformer and suppressor of the 
monasteries. 

Hammer of the Scots, The : Edward I of 
England. So-called in his epitaph 
on his tomb in Westminster Abbey 
{Malleus Scotorum). 

Hammer and Tongs : violent disputing. 
A corruption of hammer and tongues. 

Hammered, To be : to be declared a 
defaulter on the Stock Exchange. The 
procedure is for the head Stock Ex- 
change waiter to strike three strokes 
with a mallet on the side of a rostrum 
in the Exchange before making formal 
declaration of the default of a member. 

Hampden, A village: a local patriot. 
After John Hampden, Eng. patriot, 
who lived from 1594-1643. [Gray, 
Elegy in a Country Churchya/rd (1751)] 

Hdn, Sons of : the Chinese. After Hdn, 
the founder of the 26th dynasty. 

Hanaper, The Clerk of the : an of&cer of 
the Hanaper Ofi&ce. 

Hanaper Office, The: the dept, of 
Chancery, abolished in 1832, which 
collected fees for the sealing and enrol- 
ment of documents. After the hanaper 
(hamper) or wicker basket in which 
such documents were kept until the 
fees were paid. 

Hand, To bear (lend) a : to assist. 

Hand, Done to one’s : see Done. 

Hand that feeds one. To bite the : see Bite. 

Hand over fist : with great rapidity. 

Hand and foot, To be bound : to be 
strictly controlled. 



Hand] 175 [Handgrips 


Hand and foot, To wait on a person : 

to be devotedly attentive to a per- 
son. 

Hand gallop, A : a gallop during which 
the horse is kept easily in hand or under 
control. 

Hand in. To get one’s : to become 
familiar with (an occupation) , [Dekker 
and Webster, Westward Ho^ II, i 
(1607)] 

Hand and glove : in close intimacy ; as 
close as hand and glove are to one 
another. [Cowper, Table Talk, 1. 173 
{1782)] 

Hand at . . To he a good : to be an 
expert at . . 

Hand grips with . . To he at : to be 
engaged in a close contest with . . 

Hand in hand with . . : in close co- 
co-operation with . . [Chapman, 
Monsieur D* Olive, 1, i (1606)] 

Hand over hand : with great rapidity. 

Hand to hand contest, A : a contest at 
close quarters. Also Hand with hand. 
Hand by hand. Hand of hand. Hand 
for hand. [Early 13th cent.] 

Hand in . . To have a : to take part in . . 
[Shakespeare, Julius Ccssar, III, ii 
(1601)] 

Hand and heart. To offer one’s : to 
propose marriage. [Shakespeare, The 
2'empest, III, i, 89-90 (1609-10)] 

Hand Ibiow what one’s right hand does. 
Not to let one’s left : to act secretly, 
esp. in the performance of good deeds. 
[Matthew, vi, 3] 

Hand to month. From: thriftlessly; 
without preparation or reserves. Like 
one who consumes all the available 
food as soon as he receives it. 

Hand, An old : a person with much 
experience. 

Hand, An old Parliament^ : a politician 
well versed in parliamentary pro- 
cedure and able to take full advantage 
of all its opportunities. Phrase applied 
by W. E. Gladstone to himself in a 
speech in the House of Commons on 
Jan. 22, 1886. I 

Hand, Out of: (i) immediately [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)]; (2) beyond 
control. 

Hand for all it is worth. To play one’s : 

see Play. 

Hand to the plough. To put one’s : to 
undertake a task ; to enter upon a 
course of life or undertaking. [Ltihe, 
ix, 62] 

Hand in one’s pocket, To put one’s ; to 

pay money. | 


Hand at . . To be a poor : to be unskilful 
at .. 

Hand and seal. Under : conhimed in 
writing. When writing was an un- 
common accomplishment, a signature 
to a document took the form of the 
impression of the hand (later the 
thumb only) dipped in ink together 
with the impression of a seal. 

Hand, To shew one’s : to disclose one’s 
intentions. A card-playing metaphor 
derived from the game of poker. 

Hand, By the strong : by force. [Exodus, 

vi, i] 

Hand, The upper : the advantage ; 
precedence. [Ascham, Toxophilus 

(1545)] 

Hand, A young : a. person witli little 
experience. 

Hands, Off one’s : out of one’s charge, 
[Rutherford, Letters, I, ccx (1636)] 

Hiids, To change : to pass from the 
possession of one person into that of 
another. 

Hands, Clean : a clear record, above 
suspicion. [Wycliffe, Transl. of Job 
(1380)] 

Hands of . . To fall into (be in) the : to 
fall into (be in) the power of . . 
[Cicero, Brutus, xxxv, 133] 

Hamds full. To have one’s : to be fuUy 
occupied. [Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Hands, With full : lavishly. 

Hands on . . To lay : to do violence to . . 
[Bp. Hall, Characters : The Wise Man, 
Bk. I (1608)] 

Hands of . . To play into the : to act, 
unknowingly, for the advantage of 
another person. [The Spectator, 
No. 423 {1712)] 

Hands df . . To strengthen the : to 
support and assist. [Ezra, i, 6] 

Hands, To strike : to make an agreement. 
In allusion to the practice of clasping 
hands on such an occasion. [Proverbs, 

vii. i] 

Hands of . . To wash one’s : to decline 
to have anything to do with . . After 
Pontius PUate's washing of his hands 
at the trial of Jesus. 

Handfasting : betrothal. In allusion to 
the practice of joining hands as an 
indication of betrothal. 

Handful, To be a : to be rather more than 
can comfortably be dealt with or 
managed. 

Handgrips with . . To be at : to contest 
with . . In allusion to a hand-to- 
hand struggle, [Bunyan, The Holy 
War (1682)] 



Handkerohief] *7^ 

to . . To throw the : to 
bint one’s preference for a man, to in- 
vite his attention, .^er a children’s 
game known as * Kiss in the King 
and by other names. 

Handle to . - To give give some 

instifiLcation for a suspicion. 

Handle to one’s name, A : a personal 
title of honour. ^ j , 

Handle without gloves. To : to deal with 
very severely, unmercifully. A 
pugilistic metaphor. 

Handsel i Hansel. 

Handsome EngJishman, Ihe : Join 
Duke of Maxlborough (1650- 
1722). So-called by tb® French 
troops. 

Handsomely, To act : to be generous, 

HMd^peM: Boers who surrendered 
to the British in the course of the 
Boer War of 1899-1902- . . 

Handwriting on the wall : a w^ng of 
an approaching calamity. [Dowel, v] 
Wandy man. A ; a sailor. Smce ttie 
bombardment of Alesandna. 
which a naval force was landed m 
Egypt a variety of duties, apart from 
those relating to ships, have been 
imposed on the British naval forces. 
HanebahkTo: to display unwfllingn^ 
to come forward. [Geo. Petoe, 
Guaszo*s Civile Conversation, II (1581}] 
on, To : to keep attached to after 
one’s company is no longer desired. 

Hang out, To; to lodge. 

BcUaironicum (1811)] 

TTftiig together. To : of people to keep 
united in a company. [Shakespeare, 
Merry Wives of Windsor, III, u (1598)] 
Hfi-ng in the hdl ropes. To ; to defer a 
marriage after the banns have 
been called in church. 

TTftTig 3 Not to care a: to be quite 
indifferent. 

Hangdog look, A : a guilty appear^ce 
that would justify hanging like a dog. 
ty^ng fire. To : to delay the accomplish- 
ment ; to come to no decisive result. 

A militar y metaphor. 

TTung of - - To get the : to make oneself 
fatriiHar with the worlong or use of . • 
Hang by a thread. To : to be in a very 
critical condition. In allusion to the 
story of the sword which was suspended 
by a over the head of Diodes 
at a feast to which he was invited by 
Dionysius of Syracuse. [Cicero, 
Tusculanae Disputationes, V, 21 ; 
Horace, Odes III, i, 17] 


[Hanse 

Hang upon the lips of . . To : to listen 
intently to the words of .. [Ovid, 
Heroides: Penelope Ulixi, 1 . so : Jos. 
Hall, Characters : The Flatterer, Bk. 
II (1608)] 

Hanged for a sheep as a lamb. As wdl be : 

once one has committed an offence 
involving punishment one need not 
hesitate to commit further offences 
which will involve no greater 
penalty. 

H£^er«on, A : an extra-subservient 
dependant. [B. Jonson, Cynthia* s 
Revels, V. iii (1600)] 

TTfttig iTi g judge, A : a very severe judge ; 
who theoretically is always re^y to 
condemn the guilty to death by 
hanging. [Maxwell Gray, The Silence 
of Dean Maitland, Bk. I, ch. 16 (1886)] 
^fiTig in g look, A : a personal appearance 
that suggests a tendency towards 
crime and therefore a justification for 
hanging. [Shakespeare, Measure for 
Measure, IV. ii. 34-5 (1603)] 

Hanging matter, A : a serious matter ; 
one which theoretically may involve 
the punishment of hanging. [Shakerley 
Marmion, The Antiquary, V, i (1641)] 
Hangman’s Day : Friday. In allusion 
to the former custom of executing 
criminals on that day. 

Hannibal, A : a great general. After 
Hannibal (249-183 B.C.), Cartha- 

ginian general and statesman. 
Hannibal is at the gates: great and 
urgent danger threatens. After the 
fear aroused in Rome of the Cartha- 
ginians under Hannibal 
TTftnfl en kdder (Dutch, Jack in cellar) : 
an unborn child. [Cleaveland, 
Character of a London Diumcdl (1647)] 
F ft u g von Bippach : an imaging 
personage; one who does not exist. 
Rippach is a "s^age in Saxony. 

TTg-uff a : see Hanse Towns. 

Hansard: the official reports of the 
British Parliamentary proceedings. 
After the name of the firm of printers 
who printed the reports during the 
i8th and 19th cents. 

Hanse Towns, The ; Hanseatic League, 
The : (Hansa, association), a federa- 
tion, for commercial and defence 
purposes, of a number of North Ge rm an 
towns. It held for a time the position 
of one of the Powers of Europe. The 
League arose out of a treaty between 
Lubeck and Hamburg in 1241 and 
lasted in name until its incorporation 
in the German Empire in 1871. 



Hansel] 177 [Hare’s 


Hansel (Ang.-Sax., ka^idselen, to deliver 
into the hand) ; (i) a bribe ; (2) a 

gift ; {3) the first money received 

for the sale of goods and as a conse- 
quence considered an indication of 
fortune (good or bad). 

TTftiigAl Monday : the first Monday in 
the year, when it was the practice to 
present gifts to servants. 

Hansom cab, A ; Hansom, A : a two- 
wheeled hackney-cab. After J os. Aloy- 
sius Hansom {1803-82), the inventor. 
Happy as a dam at high tide. As : ex- 
ceedingly happy. At high tide a clam 
or bivalve mollusc is quite safe from 
enemies. [Dow, Sermons (? 1636)] 
Happy as a king, As : (i) contented ; 
(2) slightly drunk. [Tragical History 
of Guy, Earl of Warwick (1661)] 

Happy despatdi. The : suicide, or rather 
Hara-kiri {q.v.). 

Happy hunting grounds, The : life after 
death. In accordance with the North 
Am erican Indian conception. 

Happy Vdley, The : the garden of peace 
in Johnson, Rasselas (1759), which it 
was almost impossible either to enter 
or to leave. 

Haxa-lriri(/flf^., stomach-cutting): suicide 
in honourable circumst^ces. Orig. by 
■pnepng of an Opening in the stomach. 
Haroourt’s Round Table : the meeting of 
the Liberal leaders in Sir William 
Harcourt’s house in January, 1887, to 
ascertain whether an agreement 
between them on the Irish Question 
was not possible. 

Hard at hwd : close by. [Marlowe, 
Tamburlaine, II, iii (i 59 o)] 

Hard as iron. As : very hard. [Propei^us, 
I, xvi, 30 ; Thos. Lodge, Wit^s Miserie 
and Worlde Madnesse (159^)] 

Hud as nails. As : exceedingly hard ; 
hard-hearted. 

Hard as the nether millstone. As : 
obdurate; hard-hearted. The lower 
or nether millstone is supposed to be 
the harder of the two. {Job, xli, 24] 
Hard as steel. As : hard-hearted. 
[Towneley Mysteries, 288 (14th cent.) ; 
Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of 
Verona, I, i, 135 (1590)] 

Hard as a stone. As : [Wychffe (1382) ; 
Pety Job, 318 {1400) ; Ovid, Ars 
Amatoria, Bk. I, 475] 

Hard up : in financial straits. Orig. a 
slang term for * Hard put to it.* 

Hsurd with . . To go : to cause annoyance 
or difficulty to .. [C3rril Tourneur, 
The Revenger* s Tragedy, II, i {1607)] 


Hardouin would not object, E’en : a 
phrase used in apology for a statement 
to which exception might be taken on 
the ground of its authenticity. Jean 
Hardouin {1646-1729), librarian to 
Louis XIV, archaeologist and numis- 
matist, was notable for bis extreme 
scepticism in matters of archaeology 
and history. 

Hardshell : (i) in 1850, a supporter of 
Senator Benton in his advocacy of 
* hard money ' ; (2) in 1852 et seq, the 
more conservative faction of the 
Democratic Party in New York State ; 
(3) the stricter section of Baptists. 

Hard swearing : perjury ; keeping 
tenaciously to one*s statements under 
oath, heedless of the truth. 

Hardy Annual, A : a measure that comes 
frequently before parliament but is 
never adopted. 

Hare, First catch your : make sure of 
the preliminaries before you begin to 
consider the next step. The phrase is 
attributed to Mrs. Hannah Glasse, 
The Art of Cookery {1747)* it is not 
to be found there. The basis of the 
phrase is probably the instruction 
^Take your hare when it is cased,* 
t.f., skinned. 

Hare in a hen’s nest. To seek a : to 
attempt a task that is almost im- 
possible. [Porter, Two Angry Women 
of Abington, 11 . 2407-9 {i 599 )] 

Hare and hunt with the hounds, To hold 
with the : to endeavour to secure the 
favour of both parties in a controversy 
or contest. [15th cent.] 

Hare of - • To make a : to cover with 
ridicule. 

Hare, To start a : to open a subject that 
will temporarily absorb the attention 
of Ihe company. \Paston Letters, 
No. 721 {1473}] 

Hare with a tabor. To catch {himt for) a ; 
to undertake an almost impossible 
task. [Langland, Richard Redeles 
{1399)] 

Hs^, To set the tortoise to catch the : to 
undertake a practically impossible 
task. In allusion to .®sop*s fable of 
The Hare and the Tortoise, 

Hare without a hound. To se^ a wild : 
to undertake an impossible task. 
[Second Maiden*s Tragedy, HI, i 
(1611)] 

Hares afoot. To have : to enter into too 
many undertakings. 

Hare’s foot (head) (Hare pie) ag^nst the 
goose giblet, To set the : to place one 



Hare’s! 178 

thing as a set-off against another. 

[A Match at Midnight, V, i {1635)] 

Haters foot» To the : to be late, esp. 
for dinner. Possibly to miss the dish 
of hare and have an opportunity of 
seeing only the foot. [Health to 
Seruingmen (159S)] 

Htoe^s foot to li(i. To get the : to obtain 
a return for one’s undertak- 

ing. 

Hares with foxes. To take : to undertake 
an apparently impossible task. 

Hares, To hunt (mn after) two: to 
undertake too many projects. From 
the proverb. ' He who hunts two hares 
leaves one and loses the other.* 
[Plautus. Casia, II, viii, 39-40 ; 
Lyly, Euphues and His England 
(1530)] ^ . 

H^e-brained : with no more orams or 
intelligence than a hare. [Geo. 
Gascoigne, The Steel Glass (157Q] 

Hari-kari : see Hara-kiri. 

Harle<inia, A : a male character in the 
pantomime ; a buSoon. After the 
name of a Teutonic demon. 

Harley Street: the medical profession. 

In allusion to the thoroughfare in 
London in whose houses many of the 
most distinguished London physicians 
practice. 

Harm’s way, To keep out of : to avoid 
danger or risk. [Smollett, Peregrine 
Pickle, ch. II (1751)] 

TTftrmIpM as a dove. As : the dove is an 
emblem of innocence and is quoted as 
such in Matthew, x, 16. 

Harmonia’s necklace : an unlucky 
possession. In allusion to the necklace 
that proved fatal to whoever possessed 
it, which was given to Harmonia, the 
daughter of Mars and Venus, by one 
of the Grk. gods on her marriage. 

Harness, To die in : to die while fully 
employed, before retirement from 
work. ' In harness,' in the sense of 
engaged in one's daily work. 

Haro (Harrow), To cry: to denoimce 
(anyone). ' Ha-row ' was the Norman 
hue and cry. 

Haronn- (Haran-)al-Baschid : Caliph of 
Baghdad (786-809), around whose 
name innumerable romantic stories 
centre in The Arabian Nights. 

Harp on a . . To : to repeat a remark so 
as to bore; as pla3nng continuously 
on one string of a harp. [Heywood 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Harpagon, A : a miser. After a 
chaxacter in Moli&re, VAvare, 


[Harvest 

Harpocrates, To be a : to be silent. In 
allusion to Harpocrates, the god of 
silence. 

Harpy, A : a hateful, vulture-like 
woman. In Grk. mythology, half- 
woman, half bird of prey, with the 
attributes of the latter, a minister of 
divine vengeance. 

Harridftn, A {Old Fr., haridelle, a 
wom-ont horse) : a hateful old woman. 

Harrington, A : a farthing. After the 
Lord Harrington who received from 
James I the patent for making brass 
farthings. 

Harris, M&S. : an imaginary person, fre- 
quently r^erred to but never seen. 
After a character in Dickens, Martin 
ChuzzUwit (1843). 

Heotow, To cry : see Haro. 

Harrow, Under the : suffering persecu- 
cution or torture, like a toad confined 
by and at the same time threatened- 
by a harrow. 

Hmiy Groat, A : a groat coined in the 
reign of I&ng Henry VIII which bore 
his efigy. 

Harry, Old : (i) the Devil. A corrup- 
tion of Old Hairy. In Leviticus, xvii, 
7, the Hebrew for * Hairy ones * is 
translated devils ,* (2) Henry VIII of 
England. 

Harry with . . To play Old : to harm ; 
torment; ruin. See Harry, Old. 

Harry Sovereign, A : a sovereign of the 
reign of Henry VII or Henry VIII. 

Harry Twitoher : Henry, Lord Brougham 
(1778-1868), orator, statesman, jurist 
and scientist. In allusion to his habit 
of twitching the face. 

Harry of the West : Henry Clay (1777- 
1852), Amer. statesman and orator. 

Hanys: second-rate pla^g cards. 

Hartford Convention, The: a secret 
convention held at Hartford, Connecti- 
cut in 1814-15 which protested against 
the actions of the Federal Government. 
It was suspected of treason. 

Harvest ears. To hear with one’s : not 
to listen or pay attention. [Heywood, 
Proverhes {1546)] 

Harvest Home, !l%e : the end of the 
harvest; the celebration of the con- 
clusion of the harvest. 

Harvest for a little com. To have a large 
(make a long; : to get little return 
for great preparations. [Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

Harvest mocm. The : the moon near the 
full at the time of the harvest in 
England. 



179 


Hash] 

Hash of . . To make a : to spoil in the 
course of an unsuccessful attempt to 
deal with . . 

Hash, To settle a person’s ; to reduce a 
person to silence or powerlessness. 

Hasty pudding, A : a species of pudding 
or porridge, made with little trouble. 
So-called by H. Buttes (1599) * for . . 
in so great haste I composed it.* 
See however Wm. Haughton, English- 
men for My Money, II, i {1597). 

Hat covers his family. His : he is alone, 
unmarried. 

Hat in Friesland, Not to wear a brown : 
to tolerate the prejudices of those in 
whose midst one finds oneself. After 
the story of the insults received by 
the wearer of a brown hat in Friesland 
where such hats are or were unfashion- 
able. 

Hat in hand. To go : to be obsequious ; 
begging for a favour. 

Hat, To hang up one’s ; of a man who 
marries a wife who has already a 
home into which he is admitted. 

Hat on a hen, To put a : see Put. 

Hat money : a payment made to a 
master of a vessel in recognition of 
his care of the freight. 

Hat, To pass (send) round the : to make a 
collection of money, generally for a 
charitable object. [Goldsmith, Life 
of Beau Nash (1762)] 

Hat, To be a (locking) bad: on one 
occasion at a race at Newmarket a 
little man pushed himself into the 
Duke of York*s (Fred. Augustus) 
circle and offered to bet. The Duke 
enquired who the man was and was 
informed, * Walpole.* His reply, 
referring to the shape of Walpole's hat, 
was, * Then the little man wears a 
shocking bad hat.* 

Hat, Only fit to wear a steeple«crowned : 
ought to be burnt as a heretic. In 
allusion to the style of hat worn by 
Puritans. 

Hat, A white : a radical. In allusion to 
the white hat worn by Henry (Orator) 
Hunt (1773-1835) during the ^minis- 
tration of Wellington and Peel. 

Haidi before the door. To have a : to 
remain silent; to have a means of 
concealing one's actions. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Haiidi, Mat^ and Despatch Column, 

The : the births, marriages and 
deaths advertisements in a newspaper. 

Hatchet, To bury the : to make peace. 
From a practice formerly prevalent 


[Hay 

among the N. Amer. -Indians of 
burying a tomahawk on the conclusion 
of a peace. 

Hatchet after the helve : see Helve. 

Hatim, As generous as : see Generous. 

Hatted dame, A : a peasant woman. In 
the 17th cent, they were accustomed 
to wear hats. 

Hatter, As mad as a : see Mad. 

Haul over the coals, To : to subject to 
cross-examination and reproof. In 
allusion to the medieval ordeal by 
fire. 

Haussmannize, To : to rebuild a city on 
improved lines. After Baron George 
Eugene Haussmann (1809-91) who 
rebuilt Paris. 

]^ut ton [Fr,, high tone) : the fashion- 
able ranks of society. 

Have it out, To : to continue a contest 
or dispute to the finish. Properly, to 
cause to come out to a duel. 

Haves and the Have-note, The : those 
who have property and those who have 
none. [Cervantes,, Don Quixote, II, 
20] 

Havoc, To cry : orig. to order an army to 
set about pillaging. 

Haw, Not worth a : of no value at all ; 
a haw being the fruit of the hawthorn. 
[1000] 

Hawk about. To : to offer for disposal in 
the manner of a hawker. 

Hawk and buzzard. Between : (i) 

between two equally dangerous 
enemies ; (2) of doubtful social status, 
not the equal of the members of the 
family and yet above the level of the 
servants. 

Hawk Bye State, The : Iowa. After an 
Indian chief with whom the early 
colonists had many battles. 

Hawk from a handsaw. To know : to 
distinguish one thing from another. 
Handsaw is a corruprion of hemshaw 
or heron. [Shakespeare, hamlet, II, 
ii (1602)] 

Hawk’s meat : one easily tricked by a 
swindler. A play on haw^k in the 
sense of a rogue. [Thos. Preston, 
King Canibyses, 11. 1488-90 {1561)] 

Hawker’s news : stale news. 

Hawse Hole, To creep through the : to 
rise in the Navy from the lowest rank. 
The hawse hole is the hole through 
which the cable of a vessel runs. 

Hay and grass. Between : (i) too late for 
one purpose and too early for another ; 

(2) between boyhood and manhood ; 

(3) neither one thing nor the other. 



Hay] 

Hay on the horns, To carry : to be bad- 
tempered and consequently a source of 
danger. In allusion to the practice of 
binding the horns of vicious oxen with 
hay. See Horace, ‘ Fenum habet in 
cornu.’ {Satires, 1 , iv, 34). 

Hay of . . To make : to throw into 
disorder ; (of arguments) to pull to 
pieces. 

Hay, To look for a needle in a bundle 
(bottle) of : see Look for. 

Hay while the sun shines, To make : 
to take full advantage of every 
opportunity when engaged in an under- 
taking. [Barclay, Ship of Fools, II, 

45 (1509)] 

Head, Over a person’s : (i) superseding 
another one who has a prior claim 
[gth cent.] ; (2) beyond one’s under- 
standing. [Bacon, Holy War (1622)] 

Head in the clouds, To have one’s : to 
be in a mental state of unreality. 
[Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, Pt. II 
(1684)] 

Head cook and bottle washer : a person 
in authority, esp. one who makes a 
great show of that authority. Properly 
a general servant. 

Head, To do on : to act rashly. [Cooper, 
Thesaurus (1565)] 

Head and ears. Over : completely ; 
desperately. [Fleming, PanopUe oj 
Epistles (1576)] 

Head off, To eat one’s : to be in a con- 
dition of powerless inaction. A meta- 
phor drawn from an animal whose food 
is a source of unrequited expense. 

Head, To fly at the : to attack. [T erence 
in English (1614)] 

Head to foot, From : completely. [Pliny, 
Natural History, VII, 77 ; Cursor 
Mundi (1300)] 

Head and front of . . The : the principal 
leader ; the chief point. Used by 
Shakespeare in sense of highest point. 

Head Mgh, To carry one’s : to be proud ; 
to display a proud mien. [Arbuthnot, 
History of John Bull, ch. 15 (1713)] 

Head, To let him have his : to give a 
person freedom to follow his course, 
just as a horse when his head is freed 
from the reins. 

Head over heels : upside down. More 
properly, Heels over head. [14th 
cent.] 

Head, To keep one’s : to retain one’s self- 
control despite alarm or difficulty. 

Head in the lion’s mouth, To put one’s : 

to enter a situation of great peril. 
[Psalms, xxii, 21 ; II Timothy, iv, 17] 


180 [Hear 

Head, To lose one’s : to lose one’s self- 
control. [Chaucer, The Knight's 
Tale (14th cent.)] 

Head against . . To make : to make one’s 
way against opposition, [Sir Thos. 
Overbury, The Remedy of Love, Pt I 
11. 33-6 (1620)] 

Head, Off one’s : out of one’s mind. 

Head, To run on : to incite. [Heywood, 
Spider and Flie (1556)] 

Head against, To run one’s : to attempt 
the impossible with hurt to oneself ; 
as if one tried to push a wall down 
with one’s head. [The Spectator, No. 
307 (1712)] 

Head on one’s shoulders, To have a : to 

be shrewd. 

Head, Swollen : a state of self-conceit. 

Head or tail of, Not to make : to be unable 
to understand. A gambling metaphor. 
[V^anbrugh, Journey to London, IV 
(1728)] 

Head, To take one in the : to occur to 
one’s mind. 

Head off. To talk a person’s : to talk to 
a person until he is so wearied as to 
be unable to reply. 

Head of . . To throw oneself at the : of a 
w'oman, to show a man unmistakably 
that she is willing to marry him. 

Head of . . To turn the : to make vain 
or unreasonable. [The Spectator, 
No. 201 (1711)] 

Head for washing, To give one’s : to 

submit without resistance. [Beau- 
mont and Fletcher, Cupid's Revenge 
IV, 3 (1615)] 

Head above water. To keep : to retain 
one’s solvency, generally by a struggle. 

Heads together, To lay : of persons, to 
confer. [Chaucer, (14th cent.) ; 
Gosson, Schoole of Abuse (1579)] 

Heads I win, tails you lose : whatever 
happens I am bound to gain. Phrase 
drawn from the practice of gambling 
by means of tossing. 

Healing art, The : the practice of 
medicine. 

Heap, To be struck all of a : to be over- 
come and (metaphorically) paralyzed 
by surprise. [Shakespeare, Titus 
Andronicus, II, iii (1594)] 

Hear I Hear I : an exclamation of 
approval. Orig. ' Hear him 1 ’ a call 
for silence. The phrase came into use 
about the end of the 17th cent. 

Hear as a hog in harvest, To : to give 
one’s hearing but not one's attention. 
Giles Firmin {Real Christian, 1670) 
said, ‘ If you call hogs out of the 



i8i [Hsaycns 


harvest stubble, they will just lift up 
their heads to listen and laXL to their 
shank again.* 

Heart, The : in medieval philosophy the 
heart was considered to be the seat of 
the affections and feelings. 

Htoit, An afiSair of the : a love affair. 

Heart, With all one’s : with all one*s 
energies and devotion. [Poston \ 
Letters, No. 14 (1430)] | 

Hwt bleed. To make one’s : to arouse | 
in one a deep feeling of pity. [Chaucer, 
Troyhis, IV, Prologue, 12 (14th 

cent.)] 

Heart in one’s boots ^ose), With one’s : 
with fear and timidity. In allusion to 
the metaphorical sinking of the heart 
at sorrow or despair. [Thersites, 

U. 38I-3 (1537)] , ^ , 

Heart, To break a person’s : see Break. 

Heart, From the depth (bottom) of one’s : 
with all sincerity. [Horace, Satires, 

I, i, 66-7 ; New Custom, III, i (i573}] 

H^ out, To eat one’s : to grieve silently. 

Heart of liin glaTid, The : Warwickshire. 
On account of its central position. 

Heart of flint (stone). A: a person 
devoid of feeling or compassion. 
[Tibullus, Bk. I, i, 63-4 ; A Praise of 
M. M., 11 . 25-6 (1557) ; Ezekiel, xi, 19] 

Heart to be fill. The : to be deeply 
moved by emotion. [Seliman and 
Perseda (1599)] 

Heart good. To do one’s : to gladden and 
strengthen one. [Shakesgeare, Mid- 
summer Night's Dream, I, li, 73 {1590)] 

Heart of grace, To take : see Grace. 

Heart, With half a : half-heartedly ; 
not very willingly. 

Heart to heart talk, A: an intimate 
conversation. 

Heart, To lay to : to remember. 

Heart, To learn by: to commit to 
memory. [Chaucer, Troylus, V, 1494 
(14th cent.)] 

HoBit of Midlothian, The : the Tolbooth, 
an Edinburgh prison, demolished in 
1817. 

Heart in one’s mouth. With one’s : fdled 
with fear. A suggestion that the 
trembling of the heart with fear brings 
it almost into one's mouth. [Thersites, 

u. 396-7 (1537)] 

Heart of oak : (z) courage ; (2) a stout 
heart ; (3} a man of enduring valour. 
[Munday and Chettle, Death of Robert, 
Earl of Huntington, IV, iii (1601)] 

Heart, Poor : an expression of pity. 

Heart at rest To m erne’s : to render 
one easy in mind. 


Heart is in the right place, One’s : one 
is well-meaning and has good inten- 
tions. 

Heart upon . . To set one’s : to desire 
most earnestly. [Bacon, Essays : Of 
Empire (1625)] 

Heart upon one’s sleeve* wear one’s : 
to advertise one's sentiments and 
emotions to ihe world. [Shakespeare, 
Othello, I, i, 64 (1604)] 

Heart Smoker’s : an affection of the 
heart caused by excessive smoking. 
Heart and son]. With: thoroughly; 

devotedly. [Deuteronomy, vi, 5] 

Heart strings, One’s : one's deepest 
feelings or emotions. [Spenser, 
Faerie Queen, TV, vi, 29 (1590)] 

Heart To take to : to take very seiioutiy ; 
to grieve deeply over . - [Cursor 
Mundi (1300)] 

Heart To take : to take courage. 
[Shakespeare, Julius Casar, IV, iii 
(1601)] 

Heart’s content To one’s : as far or as 
much as one desires. [Chapman, 
Blinde Beggar of Alexandria {1598)] 
H^’s ease. To wear : to live a con- 
tented life. [Bunjran, Pilgrim's 
Progress, Pt. II (1684)] 

Hearth money : a tax imposed in 1663 
on ffre hearihs. 

Heathen Chinee^ The : a desig^tion of a 
p.hi-nfl-Tnfl.11 • invented by Bxet Harte 
(1839-1902). 

Hrathen, The Great : Johann Wolfgang 
von Goethe (1749-1832), Germ. poet. 
So-called by Heine (Norderney). 
Pffflthe** on fire. To s^ the : to create 
uproar and excitement. [Scott, Rob 
Roy, ch. 35 (i^iS)] 

Heather, To take to the : to flee from 
justice ; to become an outlaw. 

EsKvea and earth. To move : to make 
every possible effort. [Scott, Guy 
Mannertng, ch. 31 (1815)] 

Heaven on earth, A : a condition of great 
happiness. [Chapman, AU Fools, I, i 
{1605)] 

Heaven, The nine-fold : the heaven ox 
the Muses. [Nich. Grimald, The 
Muses, 11. 18-9 (1557)] ^ 

H^ven, To be in the sevento : to be 
supremriy happy. According to tiie 
Cabbalists there are seven heavens, 
more blissful its immediate 
inferior. 

Havens, The five : the planetary 
heaven, the heaven of the fixed stars, 
the crystalline heaven, the primum 
mobile and the seat of God and the 



HeaveJis] 182 

angels, according to the Ptolemaic 
system. 

Heavens, The nine : the orbits in which 
nine of the celestial bodies, vu., the 
Moon, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, Mars, 
Jupiter, Saturn, the Firmament and 
the Crystalline, move. 

Havens, The seven : the number of 
heavens according to the Mahometan 
system. 

Heavens, The three : the air, the starry 
firmament, the dwelling-place of God, 
according to the Jewish system. 

Heavenly (Sty, The: see City. 

Heaven-sent Minister, The : William 
Pitt, the younger (1759-1806}. 

Heavies, The : the Dragoon Guards or 
Heavy Cavalry. 

Heavy friend, A : an evil friend ; an 
enemy. 

Heavy hand. To have a : of a cook, to 
sprinkle condiments, etc., too freely, 
rjonathan Swnfb, PolLe Copiversation, 
Dial. II (1738)] 

Heavy hand. To rule with a : to oppress. 

Heavy Hill: the road leading to the 
place of execution at Tyburn, conse- 
quently (fig.) the road to the gallows. 

Heavy as a log, As : a dead weight. 
[Lilly, Endimion, HI, hi (1591)] 

Heavy man, The : the actor who plays a 
serious or tragic part. 

Heavyweight, A : a boxer of the heaviest 
claujs, i.e,, over ii stone in weight. 

Hebe, A : a waitress. After the goddess 
of youth. 

Hecate, A : a witch. After the Grk. 
goddess of sorcery. 

Hedk and Manger, To live at : to live in 
luxury. 

Hector, A : (i) an heroic leader ; {2) 
a swaggerer, a street bully. After 
one of the Trojan heroes in the Trojan 
War. [Lady Alimony in Dodsley's 
Old Plays (1659)] 

Hector, To : to swagger ; to bully. See 
previous entry. 

Hector, The British : Nennius (fl. 796). 

Hector of (jemiany, The : Joachim II 
of Brandenburg {1505-71}. 

Hector, To play the : to bully and boast. 

See Hector. 

Hector’s cloak, To wear : to be punished 
in the manner' of one's own offence. 
From the betrayal of Thomas Percy, 
Earl of Northumberland in 1569 by 
Hector Armstrong, in whose house 
he took refuge. From that time 
Armstrong's fortunes began to 
decline. 


[Heels 

Hecuba, On to : to the main point of 
the story. The story of Hecuba was 
the centre of many of the Grk. 
tragedies. 

Hedge alehouse, A : an inn of a poor 
character. 

Hedge priest. A: an itinerant Irish 
priest attached to no parish and 
probably devoid of educational qualifi- 
cation for his o£6ce. 

Hedge school, A : an open-air school in 
Ireland in a poor district. 

Hedge schoolmaster, A : see Hedge school. 

Hedge, To be on the right (wrong) side 
of the : to be in a right (wong) 
position. 

Hedge, To sit on the : to sit on the fence 
iq.v.). 

Hedgehog, To play the : to go through 
the world careless of other people's 
feelings. In allusion to the fable of 
the hedgehog which, being received 
into the den, drove out his host. [Sir 
Philip Sidney, Defejice of Poesie, Pt. I, 

§ X (1595)] 

Heel, Down (Out) at : giving evidence of 
poverty or carelessness in personal 
appearance. [Shakespeare, King 
Lear, II, ii (1605-6}] 

Heel of Italy, The : the south-eastern 
extremity of Italy, which in form 
resembles a heel. 

Heel tap : the dregs. 

Heels, To bless the world with one’s : 
to be hanged. [Painter, Palace of 
Pleasure (1566}] 

Heels, To cool the : to await another's 
pleasure. [ J he Merry Devil of 
Edmontofi, 11 . 15 1-3 (1608)] 

Heels, To gather up one’s : to run away. 
[Bunyan, The Holy War (1682}] 

Heels of . . To have (get) the : to surpass 
in running. 

Heels over head : see Head over heels. 

Heels, To kick one’s : to spend time 
waiting another's pleasure. [Ben 
Jonson, Bartholomew Fair (1614)] 

Heels, To kick up one’s : to die. [Dekker 
and Webster, Westward Ho, II, ii 
(1607)] 

Heels, To lay (set) (dap) by the : to 
arrest ; imprison ; render powerless. 
Properly, to imprison in the stocks. 
[Hickscorner, 1 . 481 (1520)] 

Heels in one’s necli; To cast : to leap 
forward heedlessly. [Nashe, Lenten 
Stuff (1599)] 

Heds of, To see the : to see for the last 
time. [Interlude of Youth, 1 . 19 1 

(1554)3 



Beds] 183 

Htols, To show a light (dean) (fair) pair 

of : to run away swiftly. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Heels, To take to one’s : to run away. 
[Thos. Preston, King Cambyses, 11. 
395-6 (1561)] 

He^ of .. To tread upon tbe: to 
follow closely upon . , 

Heeler, A : a political follower of low 
character; one who follows at the 
heels of his leader. 

Heep, A Uriah : an ostentatiously 
humble hypocrite. After a character 
in Dickens, David Copperfield (1849). 

Hdr of the B^publio, The : Napoleon I, 
who became Emperor after having 
been First Consul of the Republic. 

Helen, A : a very beautiful woman. 
After the wife of Menelaos, King of 
Sparta. 

H^en of one’s Troy, The : the acme of 
one's ambition. After Helen who 
was the cause of the Trojan War. 
[Lord Brooke (1554-1628), Treatise of 
Humane Learning 

Helicon : the inspiration of poets ; the 
home of poetry. After the mountain 
of that name in Boeotia which was 
sacred to the poets. 

Hdiconian Sistm, The Nine : the Muses 
who dwelt on Mount Helicon 
in Boeotia, 

Heliogahalns, A ; a monster of folly and 
debauchery. After the Roman 
Emperor (c. 205-222), 

Hell on earth. A: a place of mental 
torture. [Rich. Breton, Characters: 
War (1615.)] 

Hell, To move : to make every possible 
effort, [Ihos. Campion, When Thou 
Must Home (1601)] 

HellofaiiniepTohavea: tohave^avery 
lively time. 

TT^n and Tommy, To play : to ruin 
utterly. [Haliburton, The Clock- 
maker (1837)] 

Bellehore, As sad as: very sad. In 
allusion to a character in Samuel 
Foote, The Devil upon Two Sticks 
(1768). 

‘RTftlm, To ha at the : to direct ; control. 
[Wm. Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude , 
Pt. II, § 17 (1693)] ^ 

TTftip iu g f hand, Tp hold ont a : to offer 
assistance. [Marcus Seneca, Contro- 
versiae, I, i, 14 ; Gosson, Speculum 
Humanum, IL 20-2 (1576)] 

H^ve, To send axe after : see Axe. 

Hdve after the hatchet, To throw the : 

to be reckless, esp, after heavy losses. 


[Hercules 

In allusion to the legend of the wood- 
cutter who threw the handle of his axe 
into the water in which the head had 
fallen. 

Hemp in one’s pocket. To have : to have 
luck on one's side. In allusion to the 
superstition that hemp brings good 
luck. 

Hempen candle» A : a hangman's rope. 
[Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI, IV, vii 
(1593)] 

Hempen collar (cravat) (tie). The: the 

hangman's rope. 

Hempen fever : death by hanging. 

Hempen widow, A : the widow of one 
who has been hanged. 

Hen to chuck, To teach a : see Teach. 

Hen, To put a hat on a : see Put. 

Henpeck, To : of a wife, to nag and rule 
her husband. In allusion to a hen 
that pecks feathers out of a cock. 
[Early 17th cent.] 

Henry Dnbb, A : the ideal workingm^, 
in the opinion of the U.S. capitalist. 

Hep* hep I the cry by which an attack 
on the Jews us^ to be announced in 
Germany. Contraction for Hieros- 
olyma est perdita (Jerusalem is 
destroyed), the inscription on the 
recruiting banners of the Crusaders. 

Hepplewhite : a kind of domestic 
furniture. After Geo. Hepplewhite, 
Eng. cabinetmaker (d. 1786}. 

Hepwohy, The : the period of English 
history prior to the consolidation of 
the kingdom by Edward the Elder 
in 924. Previously the country was 
divided into severi kingdoms. 

Herb of grace. The : rue. In allusion 
to its use in the R.C. Church. 

Herdem, Ex pede : see Ex pede. 

HerCTdean : extremely difiScult or 

dangerous ; very powerful ; gigantic. 
After Hercules, Grk. mythical hero, 
celebrated for his strength. 

H^coles, A : a man of exceptional 
physical strength. After the m3rthical 
hero and god of that name. 

Hercules’ knot, A : a knot, extremely 
difficult to unravel. The invention of 
it was attributed to Hercules. 

Hercules’ labour, A ; a very great task. 
In allusion to the twelve stupendous 
labours imposed on the god, Hercules. 
See Labours of Hercules. 

Hercules of Music, The: Christopher 
Gliick (1714-87). 

Hercules, The POIm of : Gilbraltar and 
Ceuta, on either side of the Straits of 
Gibraltar. According to the ancient 



Hereoles] 

mytih they mxe set up by Hercules as 
the Western boundary of the world. 
Hence any impassable limit. 

Heroules Secondus : Commodus, Bom. 
Emperor {161-192). So-called by 
bimsdi. 

Hmnles. To snatch a dub from: to 
attempt aa impossible or very difficult 
task. [Macrobius, Satires, Bk. V, iii 
§ 16] 

SC^OEdshire kindness, A : a good 
service rendered in return for another. 

Hiennaphrodite, A : an animal that com- 
bines iu its own person both of the 
sexes. After Hermaphrod^^s (Grk. 
myth.) who became corniced wi^ 
the n3fmph of ihe fountain, Salmads. 

HSecmeneaiio : relating to interpretation. 
After Hermes, the god of skill. 

Hiscmes, A: a messenger. After the 
messenger of the gods in Grk. myth- 
ology. 

Hezinaao : (x) relating to diemistry ; 
(2) oompletdy sealed or closed. After 
the Egyptian Hermes Txismegistus, 
the ffibled inventor of alchemy. 

Hemeiio axi The : diemistry. 

Henmt ITaiion (Kingdom), The : Corea. 
In allusion to the seclusion from the 
outer world practised by its govern- 
ments until its virtual annexation by 
Japan. 

HAro de la I^blOi 1 ’ : Duke of Guise 

airo aar^stcdiek V : le grand Cond6, 
Due d'Enghien (1621-87). 

Hero of a fiondx^ Eightiu The : the 
first Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). 
So-called in Tennyson, Ode on the 
Death of the Duke of Wellington (1852), 

Hscq of the BSe, The : Viscount Nelson 
(1758-1805), who won the Battle of 
the Nile. 

Herod, To out-Herod: to exceed even 
Herod in cruelty, ferocity or violence. 
In the old morality and mystery 
plays King Herod was always depicted 
as of most ferocious temper and 
language. [Sbakespeare, HamAs/, III, ii 
(1602-3)] 

Harodotos of Old liondon. The : John 
Stow (1525-1605), author of the Survey 
of London, A&a Herodotus, famous 
Grk. historian, who lived from 484 
to 425 B.C. 

Heroic Ago, The: the mythical age 
when the heroes are supposed to have 
Uvai. 

Heroio medicine : medicine which either 
kills or cutes. 


184 [Eidcory 

Heroic poetry : wc poetry ; poetry 
celebrating the life 01 a hero. 

Heroic remedies : violent remedies. 

Heroic slze^ Of: in sculpture, greater 
than life-size. 

EstoUi verse ; the verse in which heroic 
or epic poetry is written. 

Hening’-pond, The : the sea ; in 
particular the Atlantic Ocean. 
[England's Path to Wealth (1722)] 

Hetiings in a band, Idke : very closely 
packed together- [Cervanto, Don 
Quixote, II, 43, 52] 

: the Western Land. Accord- 
ing to the Greeks, Italy ; according to 
the Italians, Spain. See Hesperian 
and Hesperides. 

Hesperian : western. After Hesperus, 
the evening star. 

Hfigp^an ; (i) the nymphs, daughters 
of Hesperus, who, with the aid of a 
dragon, gua^ed the garden of the 
golden apples in the extreme west of 
tiie world ; (2) the Fortunate Isles or 
Isles of the Blest in the far. west 
beyond the Pillars of Hercules in which 
the golden apples grew; (3) the 
Islands of Cape Verde or the Canary 
Islands. Grk., western; daughters 
of the west. 

Hdveros : the evening star. 

A : a mercenary soldier or 
politician in the U.S. In allusion to 
the Hessian soldiers who fought in the 
pay of England in the Azaerican 
Eevolution. 

; hig h boots. After the 
Hessian mercenary solffiers who intro- 
duced them into England. 

Hew blocks with a raaoz. To : to employ 
fine powers or tools for an unworthy 
object. ‘ To endeavour to work upon 
the vulgar with fine sense.' [Pope, 
Thoughts on Various Authors (1741)] 
Heweirs of wood and drawers of water : 
slaves ; labourezs of the lowest class. 
In allusion to the Gibeonites who 
were enslaved by the Israelites. 
[Joshua, ix, 21] 

Hibernia : the Roman name for Ireland. 

Bio }ao6^ A : an ^taph. After the 
two fij^ wonds of Lat. epitaphs, 

' Hear lies.' [Shakespeare, Alls 
Well that Ends Well, lit, vi (1601-2)] 
Blocitu Dootlns ; BMus Doxins (Imita- 
tion Lai.) : a pretentious humbug. 
[Thos. Shadw^, The Virutoso (1676)] 

Blokory, Old: Andrew Jackson (X767- 
1845J, Amer. general aj^ President of 
the t 7 .S. La aUusion to the strength 



Hlokoiy] 


185 


QSOppodrome 


aad toughness of his diaracter. like 
hickory wood. 

B!ekory» 7oimg : Martixi van Buren 
(1782-E862), President of the U.S., on 
whose shotdders the political mantle of 
Old Hickory (Pres. Jackson) (q.v.) 
was said to have fallen. 

EdoksoonLer, A: a scofEer. After the 
name of a character in an interlude of 
that name printed by Wynkyn de 
Worde (d. 1534). 

Sdde of ]and» A : an early Eng. measure 
of land, sufficient to be tilled by 
means of one plough in the course of 
a year. 

Hide-bound : narrow-minded ; obstin- 
ate, In allusion to the condition of 
ill-fed cattle whose skin clings tightly 
to the bodyl [Ratum from Parnassus, 
II, iv (1606)] 

Biecocleaii le^oy. The : the legacy of 
jokes. After Hierocles (3th cent.)^ 
who was the original compiler of an 
anthology of jokes. 

High bi0W> A: a person aggressively 
intdlectnal or supposedly so. 

High Ghurch : the party in the Church 
of England which attributes great 
importance to the Episcopate and to 
those doctrines and opinions generally 
which distinguish the Church from the 
Nonconformist bodies. Oiig. (17th 
cent.) applied as a nickname to the 
Tory party in the Ghurch. 

Hi^day,A : a solemn festival. 

ffigh and diy: left aside from the 
current of events. Metajphor drawn 
from the sea, as of a ship stranded 
high on the beaxffi. 

: bombastic pretence. 
Either corruption of high dightmg, or 
from (Dutch) verlooien, stilted. 

High game^ To fly at: to have great 
ambitions. 

Hifidi hand. With a : autocratically. 

High home. To tide the : to be arrogant. 
[Addison^ Presholdar (1716)] 

High in the instep : haughty. 
wood, Praverbes (1546)] 

SQgh : a noisy frolic ; properly, a 
game of forfeits. 

use i life in the upper ranks of 
society. 

High and mighty : arrogant. Orig. an 
epithet of dignity. 

HUffi places : altars erected to heathen 
gods. From their ^evated situation. 

EOigh ropes. On the : arrogant and dis- 
dainful. [Goldsmith, She Stoops to 
Conquer, II, i (1773)] 


High Seas, The : the great ocean outside 
of territorial waters. 

High spirits, In : jovial; in good spirits. 

High tea. A: a meat tea. 

EQgh words : angry words. [Sheridan, 
School for Scandal, V. ii (i777)] 

Bjghec Critioisin, The: a series of 
questions aSecting the composition, 
the editing and the coEection of the 
books of the Bible. The phrase was 
first used by Eichhom in EinUitung 
in das AUe Testament, Bd. II, § 424, 
295 (* 7 ^ 7 ). 

BSgher Ord^ The : the upper classes. 

Highflier, A : (i) a High CSmrchman ; 
(2) in Scotland, an Evangdiical ; 
(3I one whose ambitions are great; 
(4) a pretentious beggar. 

Highland bail : pugilistics. 

Hjghlanders : playing cards of low 
quality. In allusion to the device 
on the wrappers of packs of such 
cards. 


Hildehrand* A : an overbearing, power- 
ful, strongminded pope ; of the 
ch^cter of Gregory vll (Hildebrand) 

J 1013-85). 

I, To go down : to be on the dedine. 
Hinc illae lacrymae (Lai,, Hence these 




[Terence, Andria, I, i ; Whitgift, 
Works, I (1572)] 

Hindustan Begiment, The: the second 
Battalion of the West Riding Regt., 
formerly the 76th. In allusion to the 
distinction gatoed in Hindustan. 

Hip, On the : at a definite advantajge. 
A metaphor drawn either from hunting 
or wrestling. [Heywood, Proverbes 

{1546)] 

EQp and thigh. To smito: to attack 
without quarter. [Judges, acv, 8] 

Hipped, To be: to be low-spirited; 
from hypochondria. 

Bippoctas : a medicinal wine. After 
IBppocrates (4th cent. B.C.), the 
Father of Medicine, from whose 
prescription it is said to be made up. 

Hippoeraac £RCe» A : the appearance of 
a face betokening death. After Hip- 
pocrates (4th cent. B.C.), by whom it 
was described. 

Bippoerene : poetic or literary 

inspiration. After a fountain on 
Mount HeUcon, sacred to the Muses. 

EQppodrome^ A : (x) a circus ; (a) a 
music ; (3} in America a fraudu- 
lent horserace. After the ancient 
Grk. course for horse and chariot 


races. 



Hit] 186 

Hit the btiU’s eye. To : to have a neat 
and perfect success. A shooting 
metaphor. 

Hit, A great : a considerable success. 
From the game of hit and nuss. 

Hit, To mahe a : to make a success. 

Hit a man when down. To : to take 
advantage of a man when he is at 
one's mercy. 

Hbdns Doidus : see Hiccius Doctius. 

Hobbema, The English : John Crome, 
the elder ( 1 769-1 821). After Meindert 
Hobbema (c. 1638-1709), a famous 
Dutch landscape painter. 

Hobbema, The Scotch : Peter Nasmyth 
(1787-1831). 

Hobbes’ voyage : a leap in the dark. In 
allusion to the last sa3nng of Thomas 
Hobbes (1588-1679), the philosopher, 

' Now I am about to take my last 
voyage, a leap in the dark.' 

Hobbling Giles : see Hopping Giles. 

Hobby, A : a favourite pursuit. From 

* hobby-horse,' orig. a pleasure-horse, 
afterwards a child's toy. 

Hob’s pound, To be in : to be in diffi- 
culties. Hob represents a rustic fool 
and the phrase therefore means to 
be in difficulties in consequence of 
one’s own folly. 

Hobson Jobson : a noisy festivity. 

Hobson’s Choice ; no choice. Generally 
supposed to be in allusion to Thomas 
or Tobias Hobson, livery stable keeper 
of Cambridge (c. 1544-1630), who 
allowed his customers no choice. 
They had to take whichever horse was 
next due to go out. The phrase in the 
form of ' Hudson's Choice ' was, how- 
ever, current as early as 1614 and was 
probably adapted to apply to Hobson 
of Cambridge. 

Hoc genus omne (Lot, All this sort of 
people) : [Horace, Satires, I, ii] 

Hock Day : Tuesday, see Hock Tide. 

Hock Monday : see Hock Tide. 

Hock Tide : a popular festival celebrated 
on the second Monday and Tuesday 
after Easter in commemoration of the 
expulsion of the Danes in 1074. 

Hockey cake : see Hoky. 

Hocus-pocus : charlat^ism ; a con- 
juror's trick ; conjurer’s gibberish. 
Said to be from Ochus Bochus, a 
celebrated It. wizard of the 17th cent., 
or from * Hoc est Corpus ' of the Mass. 

* Hokos-Pokos ' is the name of the 
juggler in Ben Jonson, Magnetic Lady 
(1632). See also Ben Jonson, The 
Stalls of News (1625). 


[Holbom 

Hod, A : a bricklayer’s labourer. From 
the implement used in his employment. 

Hodge : a countryman. From ' hedger.' 
[Chaucer, Coke's Prologue, 1. 12 (1386)] 

Hodge-Podge: a mixture. Corruption 
of Hotch-potch (q,v.). 

Hodge-wife, As firm as : very firm and 
secure. Hodge’s wife is said to have 
been confirmed by a bishop several 
times. 

Hodman, A : one who performs the 
drudgery in literature for the assist- 
ance of a writer of repute. Properly, 
a bricklayer’s labourer. 

Hog in armour, A : a clumsy person ; 
one obviously uncomfortable in his 
attire. [Howell, English Proverbs 
(1660)] 

Hog and hominy : ordinary food. Pork 
and maize are among the cheapest of 
foods in the United States. 

Hog, To go the whole : (i) to perform a 
business completely ; (2) to support 
one's party in everything without 
question. [Cowper, Love of the World 
Reproved] 

Hogs to a fine market, To bring one’s : 
to get one’s affair into a bad state of 
mismanagement. [Look About You, 
I, xiii (1600)] 

Hog’s Norton, To be brought up at ; to 
be badly behaved. Hook Norton, 
formerly Hoch Norton, in Oxford- 
shire, was proverbial for the clownish- 
ness of its inhabitants, [Interlude of 
Youth, 1. 498-9 (1554)] 

Hogan Mogaa ; see Hogen Mogen. 

Hogarth of Novelists, The : Henry 
Fielding (1707-54). The origin^ 
Hogarth (1695-1764) was called * The 
Juvenal of Painters.' 

Hogarth, The Scottish : David Allan 
(1744-96). 

Hogen Mogen : (i) Holland ; (2) the 
Dutch ; (3) people of high rank. From 
the Dutch title of the States General, 
Hoogmogendheiden, High Mightinesses. 

Hogsdon cai^ Over a : in a very hurried 
and unceremonious manner. [The 
Wizard (1640)] 

Hoi FoUoi : see Oi Polloi. 

Hoigh, On the : excitedly. [Terence in 
English (1614)] 

Hoist with one’s own petard : caught in 
his own trap. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, 
III, 4 (1602-3)] 

; Hockey cake : the seed cake 
distributed at a Harvest Home [q.v.], 

Holbom Hill, To ride backwards up : to 
go to be hanged. The road to the 



187 


Hold] 


[Holy 


gallows at Tybuni passed along 
Holbom Hill and criminals in former 
times used to be taken to execution 
with, their backs to the horse. 

Hold forth. To ; to harangue. First 
used by the Nonconformists (c. 1642) 
in this sense. 

Hold the candle to. Not to he worthy to : 
In allusion to the link boys who used 
to light their masters. 

Hold one’s hand. To : to forbear. 
[fowneley Mysteries, IV, 260 (c. 1350)] 

Hold one’s head high. To : to be proud 
and arrogant. 

Hold a looking-glass to a mole, To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Hold one’s own. To : to maintain oneself 
in a contest. [R. Bruune, Chronicle 

(1330)] 

Hold the serpent by the tail. To : to act 
foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Hold one’s tongue. To : to keep silent. 
[Scott, Legend of Montrose, ch. 4 
(1819)] 

Hold water, To : to come successfully 
through a test; to bear inspection. 
[Mabbe, Transl. of Aleman, Guzman 
d’ Alfarache, II, 79 (1622)] 

Hole and comer : secret ; underhand. 
Lit., done in a hole and comer, i.e., 
in a secret place. [Ascham, 

Toxophilus, Bk. I (1545)] 

Hole in . . To pick a : to find fault with . . 
In allusion to the Rom. practice of 
dressing criminals in rags. [Chapman, 
All Fools. IV, i (1608)] 

Hole la the water. To m^e a : to be 
drowned. From an It. proverb. 

Holiday liking, A : a mere temporary, 
superficial friendship, intended perhaps 
merely for the period of a holiday. 
[Mrs. Cath. Crowe, Light and Darkness : 
The Money Seekers, ch, 6 (1850)] 

Holiday speeches (words) (terms) : choice 
language. [Shakespeare, i Henry IV. 
I, iii (159^7)] 

Holland House C^de, The : the political 
and social circle that gathered round 
the 3rd Lord Holland (1773-1840) at 
Holland House, Kensington, London. 

HoUantide : contraction of All-Holian- 
tide. All Hallows, November ist. 

Hollow, To beat : to beat wholly, of 
which the phrase is a corruption. 
[Jas. Townley, High Life Below 
Stairs, I, ii (1759)] 

Holy Alliance, : the alliance between 
Russia, Austria and Prussia (1816-30) 


and subsequently joined by the other 
powers except Britain and Rome, for 
the preservation of the d^mastic 
status quo or to regulate the affairs of 
Europe * by the principles of Christian 
charity.' 

Holy Boys, The : the 9th Regt. of Foot. 
In allusion to their practice, during the 
Peninsular War, of sacking monas- 
teries and selling the bibles. 

Holy City, The ; of the Western Arabs, 
Fez ; of the Christians, Jerusalem ; 
of the Hindoos, Benares ; of the Incas, 
Cuzco ; of the Jews, Jerusalem ; of 
the Mahometans, Mecca, Medina ; 
of the Indian Mahometans, Allahabad ; 
of the Russians, Kief, Moscow. 

Holy fire : erysipelas ; St. Anthony's 
fire. 

Holy Grail, The : see Grail. 

Holy of Holies, The : (i) the sanctua^ of 
a church ; (2) anywhere especially 

sacred. Orig. the innermost sanctuary 
of the Temple at Jerusalem. 

Holy Isle, The : (i) Lindisfame, off the 
coast of Northumberland, on account 
of its monastery; (2) Ireland, on 
account of its numerous saints. 

Holy Land, The : among the Christians 
and J ews, Palestine, or more properly 
Judaea, the scene of the biblical 
narrative; among the Mahometans, 
Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet ; 
among the Chinese Buddhists, India, 
the native-land of the Buddha ; 
among the Greeks, Elis, the site of the 
Temple of Zeus, 

Holy land of mountain adventure, The : 

the Alps. 

Holy League* The: (i) the League 
between the Pope, Ferdinand of 
Aragon, Venice, and Switzerland in 
151 1, and later Henry VIII of England 
and the Emp. Maximilian directed 
against Louis XII of France ; (2) the 
league between the Pope, Venice and 
Spain against the Turl^ in 1571 ; (3) 
the association formed in France by 
the Due de Guise in 1576 with the 
assistance of the King of Spain and 
the support of the Pope ‘ for the 
defence of the Holy Catholic Church 
against the encroachments of the 
Reformers,' but in reality to secure the 
succession to the throne of the Due de 
Guise instead of Henry of Navarre, 
afterwards Henry IV ,* (4) the league 
formed in 1684 by the Pope between 
the Emperor, Poland, V enice and 
Muscovy against the Turks. 



Holy] 

Holy Moiiiez of the Hussis^, The : the 
City of Moscow. 

Holy oaik, A : an oak that marked a 
parish boundary at which the Gospel 
was read at the beating of the bounds 
during the Rogation Days ; also 
known as Gospel Oak. 

Holy O^oe, The : the Inquisition (q.v,). 

Holy Orthodox Church, The : the Greek 
Church. 

Holy Roman Empire, The i the successor 
to the (Western) Roman Empire, 
founded by Charlemagne in 800 and 
destroyed by Napoleon in 1806. ^ It 
was succeeded by the Austrian Empire, 
which was dissolved in 1918. 

Holy Itotiirday : the day before Easter 
Simday. 

Holy Thursday : Ascension Day. 

Holy Wars, The: the Crusades, the 
Thirty Years War, and other wars of 
religion. 

Holy Water, As the Devil loves : see 
Devil. 

Holy We^ : Passion Week ; the week 
immediately preceding Easter. 

Holy Writ : the Bible; formerly all 
writings on sacred subjects. 

Home to . . To bring a thing : (i) to 
convict a person of . . ; (2) to say 
something that kindles the attention 
of .. 

Home Counties, The : Middlesex, Surrey, 
Kent, Essex and Hertford, and soine- 
times Sussex, the counties bordering 
on London. 

Home^ To go : to die. [First quarter of 
the 1 6th cent,] 

Home, To go to one’s long : see Home, 
To go. 

Home of Lost Clause, The: Oxford 
University, noted for its extreme 
conservation. [Matthew Arnold, 
Essays in Criticism (1865)] 

Home, Man’s long : the grave. 

Home Oi^ce, The : the Ministry of the 
Interior in the United Kingdom ; the 
department of state concerned with 
home as distinct from foreign afiairs. 

Home, To pay : to press hard in combat. 

Home, To press a thing : to pursue a 
course until it is completed to the full. 
[Dryden, Annus MirabiHs, st. 127 

(1667)] 

Home Rule : self-government. The 
phrase was apparently invented by 
George Brodrick in Tke Times on the 
9th of February, 1871. 

Home Rulers : a British political party 
which advocates autonomy for Ireland. 


188 [Honest 

Home Seoretary, The : the Minister of 
the Interior in the United Kingdom. 
Home to . . To speak : to tell plain 
truths to . . [Foote, The Author, II, i 

(1757)] 

Home, To strike (hit) : to touch a person 
where he is most vulnerable. 

Home, To touch: to give a mortal 
wound to. 

Homer, The British : (i) Geoffrey 

Chaucer (1340-1400), so-called by 
Ascham ; (2). John Milton (1608-74), 
so-described on Gray's monument in 
Westminster Abbey. 

Homer, The Cdtio : Ossian (fl, 300). 
Homer of l^^amatio Poets, The : Shakes- 
peare. So-called by Dryden. 

Homer of Ferrara, The : Ariosto (1474- 
1533). So-called by Tasso. 

Homer of the Franks, The : Angilbert 
(fl. 814). So-called by Charlemagne. 
Homer of Ihe French Drama, The: Peter 
Corneille (1606-84). So-called by Sir 
Walter Scott. 

Homer of History, The : Herodotus 
(c. 484-425 B.C.), Grk. historian. 
Homer of Human Nature, The Prose : 

Henry Fielding (1707-64). So-called 
by B3nron. 

Homer sometimes nods : even the most 
trustworthy sometimes fails. [Horace, 
Ars Poetica, 359] 

Homer, The Oriental: Firdusi (904- 
1020), the Persian poet. 

Hom^ of Philosophers, The : Plato 
(429-347 B.C 0 . . 

Homer, The Prose: Henry Fieldmg 
(1707-64), So-called by B3n:on. 
Homer, The Scottish : William Wilkie 
(1721-72), author of Epigonidd, ' the 
Scottish Iliad,* which is written in 
heroic couplets based on the 4th book 
of the Iliad. 

Homeric laughter : unquenchable, long 
drawn out laughter. In allusion to 
the laughter of the gods in the 
Odyssey, VIII, 326. 

Homeric question. The : the question of 
the authorship, etc., of the poems of 
Homer. 

Homeric verse : hexameters. In allu- 
sion to the metre in which Homer 
wrote. 

Homespun lass, A : a country girl ; one 
whose clothing material is spun at 
home. [Grim, the Colter of Croydon, 
IV, i (1662)] 

Hone^ Abe : Abraham Lincoln 

(1809-65), President of the United 
States. 



Honest] 

Honest Broker, The : Prince Otto von 
Bismarck (1815-98), in view of his 
chairmanship of the Berlin Congress of 
1878, where he endeavoured to bring 
Austria and Russia to an agreement. 
See his speech in the Reichstag of 
Feb. 19, 1878. 

Honest George ; George Monk, Duke of 
Albemarle (1608-70). 

Honest-man, King : Victor Emanuel II 
of Italy (1820-78), who fulfilled in 
times of prosperity the promises of 
constitutional reform made by his 
father and himself in a period of 
adversity. 

Honest penny. To earn an : to earn one's 
money by honest work. 

Honest penny, To turn an : to earn 
money legitimately. [Wycherley, 
Plai 7 i Dealer, III (1676)] 

Honey to the beehives. To send : to 
perform a labour of supererogation. 
Of Spanish origin. 

Honey for a h&penny. To sell : to 
estimate at a low price. [Nash, Pierce 
Peyiilesse (1592)] 

Honey Island : an ancient name for 
Britain. 

Honeyed speech (words) : flattery. 
[Homer, Iliad, vi, 212-4 ; Ausonius, 
Epistulae, ii ; Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Honeyed tongue, A : a flatterer. [Homer, 
Iliad, Bk. I, 247-9 ; Thos. Lodge, 
Wounds of Civil War, 1 , 283-5 

(1594)] 

Honeymoon, A : the first month after 
marriage. From the Scand. practice 
of drinking diluted honey during it. 
Moon = month. 

Hong merchant, A : a Chinese merchant 
(native or foreign). Hong, a foreign 
warehouse or factory at Canton. 

Honorificabilitudinitatibus : honourable- 
ness. The longest word in the Eng. 
language. [Nashe, Lenten Stuffe 

(1599)] 

Honoris causa (Lat,, For the sake of 
honour) : honorary (esp. of a Univ. 
degree). 

Honour, An affair of : a duel or a dispute 
leading up to one. Duels were 
governed and prescribed by the Laws 
of Honour. 

Honour bright ! : an asseveration of 
sincerity. 

Honour, A court of : a tribunal for the 
decision of matters of honour; a 
successor to the medieval court of 
chivalry. 


189 [Hooligan 

Honour, A debt of : a gambling or other 
debt that cannot be enforced by law, 
but is dependent on one's sense of 
honour. 

Honour, The Fountain of : the King of 
England, with whom titular honours 
originate. 

Honour, Laws of : laws of etiquette, 
which govern polite society. 

Honour, A point of : an obligation, 
binding not on account of law but out 
of self-respect or on account of 
conscience. 

Honour, One’s word of : a statement or 
promise made on one's honour. 

Honours, To do the : to preside at a 
social function. 

Honours are easy : both sides have equal 
advantages. A cardplaying metaphor. 

Honours of war. The : the right to retain 
arms and colours, granted to a defeated 
army by the victor. 

Honoured in the breach than in the 
observance. More : of a custom or 
example that should not be followed. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV, iv (1602-3). 

Hoodlum : an Amer. term for a street 
rufldan. Said to have been a corrup- 
tion of Muldoon, a hooligan leader in 
San Francisco about 1868. Muldoon 
was re-arranged as Noodlum, which 
was misread as Hoodlum. 

Hoodwink, To : to deceive. From the 
game of hoodman-blind or blind 
man's buS. [Thos. May, The Heir, 

IV, i (1633)] 

Hook, Above one’s : beyond one's 
capacity. 

Hook or by crook. By : by one means or 
another. By the ancient Law of 
the New Forest, every Forester- 
born has the right to remove 
fallen branches, etc., ' with hook 
and crook,' A popular but baseless 
derivation is from Hook and Croke, 
two successful advocates, one or other 
of whom was generally retained by 
litigants in the early 17th cent. Yet 
another derivation is from Hook and 
Crook, two places in the port of 
Waterford, by one or the other of 
which, Strongbow, when he invaded 
Ireland in 1172, is said to have sworn 
that he would capture the city. 
[Colin Clout (1240) ; Wycliffe, Contro- 
versial Tracts (1370)] 

Hook, To fish with a golden : to bribe. 

Hoo^ On one’s own : self-dependent. 

Hooligan, A : a street rufiSan. Either a 
perversion of hoodlum {q.v.), or from 



Hoosier] i9o [Horse 


the name of a prominent street ruffian 
in South london about the year 1898. 
[Daily Mail, Jan. 9, 1899)] 

Hoosiei, A : a native of the state of 
Indiana. Se^ Hoosier State. 

Hoosier l^ate* The i Indiana After 
Husher, a bully (Amer. coUoq.), one 
who hushes his opponents. 

Hop o’ my Thumb, A : (i) a dwarf ; 
(2) a tenn of contempt used figuratively 
for one small enoug^h to hop over a 
thumb. Introduced in the i6th cent. 

Hop the twig. To : to run away from 
one's creators as a bird escapes from 
the fowler. 

Hope against hope. To : not to lose hope 
despite overwhelming disappointments. 

Hopeful, A young : a male child. 

Hopping Giles, A : a lame man. After 
St Giles, the patron saint of cripples. 

Horace of England, The : (i) Ben Jonson 
(1573-1637^ so-called by Dekker; 
(2) Abraham Cowley (1618-67), so- 
called by the Duke of Buckingham. 
Horace, famous Rom. poet, lived 
from 65 to 8 B.C. 

Horace of France, The: (i) Jean 
Macrinus (1490-1557); W Pierre Jean 
de Beranger (1780-1857). 

Horace of Portugal, The: Antonio 
Ferreira (1528-69). 

Horace of Spain, The: (i) Luperdo 
Argensola (i 559 -i 6 i 3 ) ; (2) Bartolme 
Argensola (1562-1631). 

Horn in the bog. To stick one’s : to get 
into a difficult position. [Scott, JRob 
Roy, ch. 18 (1818)] 

Horn Book, A : an elementary treatise ; 
a school book, Orig. in the i6th cent, 
a child's book protected by a covering 
of horn. 

Horn and com : cattle and provisions. 

Horn, To exalt (lift up) one’s : see Exalt. 

Horn Gate, The : in Grk. legend, one of 
the two gates of dreams, though which 
those which are to be fulfilled pass. 
After a pun between the Grk. words 
keros, horn, and krano, to bring to an 
issue. 

Horn nor hoof, Neither : without trace. 

Horn, To come out at the little end of 
the : to get the worst in a contest or 
dispute ; to be swindled. [Ben 
Jonson, Eastward Ho (1605)] 

H^ mad: raving mad; so mad or 
angry as to toss as with the horns of an 
ox. [Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy : 
To the Reader (1621)] 

Horn, To put to : to denounce as a 
rebel ; to outlaw. In allusion to the 


former practice in Scotland of blowing 
a horn three times before announcing 
a sentence of outlawry. 

Horn of Salvation, The : God. 

[II Samuel, xxii, 3] 

Horn, To be squeezed wongh a : to get 
the worst of a contest or dispute. 
[Fletcher, A Wife for a Month (1624)] 

Horn Thumb, A: a pickpocket. In 
allusion to the practice, when bags 
were worn as purses, of wearing horn 
thimbles so as to protect the thumb 
from the knife used to cut away 
purses. 

Homsoffhe Altar, To the: to the utter- 
most. In allusion to the Roman 
custom of holding the horns of the 
altar when swearing. 

Homs, To take the bull by the : see Take. 

Homs of a dUemm^ On the : between 
two alternative difficulties. 

Homs, To draw in one’s : to modify one's 
demands or expectations. In allusion 
to the snail which draws in its 
horns when disturbed. 

Hornet’s nest about one’s ears. To bring 
a : to bring much petty annoyance, 
esp. the remonstrances of individuals, 
upon oneself. [Peter Pindar, Odes of 
Condolence : The Churchwarden (1792)] 

Horned’ nest, To stir np a : to cause 
oneself trouble and petty annoyance. 
The bear, which is very fond of honey, 
occasionally inserts his snout in a 
hornet's nest instead of one of bees. 

Homie, Auld: In Scotland, the Devil. 
In allusion to his supposed horns. 

Horrors, The : the D^rium Tremens. 

Hors de combat [Fr,, out of fight) : 
disabled from the contest. [Lord 
Chesterfield, Letters, Bk. II, No. cxii 

(1757)] 

Horse to an ass. To come from a : see Ass. 

Horse, To go from an ass to a : see Ass. 

Horse of another colour, A : a different 
matter. 

Horse, A dark : a candidate of whose 
capacity and qualifications little or 
nothing is publicly known. A racing 
metaphor. 

Horse, To flog a dead : see Dead horse. 

Horse and foot : completely ; with all 
one's might. In allusion to the 
former two branches of an army. 
[Chapman, An numerous Daye*s 
MyHh (1599)] 

Horse Guardi The : the headquarters of 
the Coxnmander-in-Chief of &e British 
forces ; formerly the office of the 
Horse Guards. 



igx 


Edise and hamesi. To come for: to 
come in order to serve one's own ends. 
H6rs6» To get npon one’s high: to 
pretend to a dignity higher than that 
to which one is entitled. 

Horse licks his ear. Before a: very 
promptly. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Horse to the pond. To lead a : to perform 
the easier half of an operation. From 
the proverb, * You can lead a horse to a 
pond but you can't make him drink.' 

Horse, To ride the hisdi : see High. 

Horse Latitudes, The : a portion of the 
Atlantic Ocean between 30® and 35® 
North, where calms were frequent and 
in consequence sailing vessels con- 
veying horses used often to have to 
throw their cargoes overboard. 

Maxines, The : a self-contra- 
diction ; but a nickname of the 17th 
Lancers, two of whose men once had 
been previously in the Marines. 

Horse to madeet, To run before one’s : 
to re^on up one's profits prematurely. 

Horse in the mouth. To lode a gift : to 
criticize a gift. [Heywood, Proverbes 

(1546)] 

Hbrse ni^t-cap, A : a bundle of straw. 
[Greene, Contention Between Liberality 
and Prodigality^ I, ii (1602)] 

Horse play : rough play in which 
horses might participate. [Vanbrugh 
and Cibber, The Provoked Husband^ 

II, i (17*8)] 

Horse sense : strong common sense. 

Horse Tails, The : the Turks. 

Horse, To talk : to boast. A racing 
metaphor. 

Horse, A Troian : a concealed danger. 
In allusion to the wooden horse left 
behind by the Greeks at Troy. 

Hbrse, To ride the wooden : see Wooden 
horse. 

Horsey To wodc on the dead : to do work 
for which payment has been made in 
advance. 

Horses together. To set one’s : to join 
forces ; to co-^erate. [Walter Pope, 
Life of Seth Wa/rd, Bp. of Salisbury 

ninM w^Eiile crossing a stream. To change 
(swop) : see Swap. 

Hortus Sioons, A (Lai., dry garden) : a 
herbarium or collection of dried plants. 

Hospital^ • A : a Knight Hospitaller or 
member of an order of military monks 
which was founded at Jerusalem 
(c. 1048) by It. merchants for the 
assistance of poor pilgrims. The 


Order was known variously as Brothers 
of the Hospital of St. J ohn the Baptist, 
Kni^ts of Ihe Hospital of St. John 
of Jersusalem, Knights of Rhodes, 
Knights of Malta. 

HostinoneselfiTobea : tobeabovethe 
average in value or use in a contest. 
The phrase was used by the Duke of 
Wellington in reference to Xx)xd John 
Russell, in conversation in 1838 or 
1839. A similar phrase, ' Himself a 
host,* had been used by Pope in his 
txansl. of the Iliad, Bk. Ill, 293 
(1715-20). 

Host, To reckon wittiout one’s : to over- 
look a factor of great importance. 
Hbs^es to fortone^ To give : to handi- 
cap ones^, e.g., by marriage, in the 
struggle for existence. [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Marriage and Single Life 

In : excitedly. [Bacon, 
Essays : Of Death (1625)] 

Hot cakes, To sdl like : see Sell. 

Hoi and cold. To blow : to be nneertain 
of mind or intention. An allusion to 
one of ^op's Fables. 

Hot as fire, As : intensely hot. [Barclay, 
Ship of Fools (1509)] 

Hot for . . To grt too : to become a 
centre of annoyance or persecution. 
See Hot for. To make it. 

Hotfoot: i^idly; hastily. [Map, 
Body and Soul (1300)] 

Hot (and strong). To give it a person : 

to punish sever^y ; to scold. 

Hot Gtospdler, A : a Puritan (after 1660). 
The original Hot-Gospeller was £dw. 
Underhill of Worcester who lived in 
the reign of Queen Mary. 

Hot for • . To make it : to make a place 
or situation very uncomfortable. 
[Gosson, Schoole of Abuse (1579)] 
Etot shot^ A : a skirmishing ^£er ; 

one who shoots hotly. 

Hot as toast As : comfortably warm. 

[Two Cookery Books (1430)] 

Hirt water, in : in trouble. In allusion 
to the ordeal by hot water. [Lisle 
Papers, XI, 100 (1537)] 

Hoton-potoh, To bring into : to group 
properties t^ether preparatory to an 
equal division. Ft., Hochepot, the 
fsunily pot (hocher, to shake ; poi, pot) . 
Hotoh"Pot(di: (i) a dish consisting of 
various ingredients; (2) a mixture. 
See also previous entry. [Hall, 
Saiires (1597U 

EtoM Dieo, A (Pr., mansion of God^ : 
a hospital. 



Hotspur] 192 [Hub 


Hotspur, A : a fiery-tempercd person. 
In allusion to Harry Percy (Hotspur) 

(1364-1403)- „ ^ 

Hound a person, To : to pursue a person 
relentlessly* as if with, the assistance 
of a hound ; to persecute. 

Hounds and run with the hare, To hunt 
with the : see Hare, To hold with the. 

Hoondsfoot trick, A : a rascaUy trick. 
Houndsfoot = a scoundrel. 

Hour, The Seventh : the latest possible 
moment. See the Parable of the 
Labourers {Matthew, xx). 

Hour, In an evil; acting under an 
unfortunate impulse. Phrase derived 
from astrology. 

Hours, A Book of : a book of prayers to 
be said at the Canonical Hours {q,v.). 

Hours, Canonical : Matins, Lauds, Prime, 
Terce, Sext, None and Vespers ; the 
seven periods of the day set apart for 
prayer in the Early Christian and 
Homan Catholic Churches, 

Hours, To keep good : to be home or go 
to bed betimes at night. [Jos. Hall, 
Characters, Bk. II : The Busybody 
(1608)] 

Hours, OTie small : one to three a.m. 

House, The : the House of Commons. 

House afire. Like a ; very rapidly ; as 
quickly as a house would bum. 

House, Atop of the : in a state of anger 
or other excitement. 

House, To bring down the : to call forth 
so great applause as might possibly 
cause the building to coUapse. 

House of cards, A : see Cards. 

House of Correction, A : a prison for 
minor offences. 

House divided against itself, A : a party, 
family, etc., split by internal 
dissension. [Matthew, xii, 25] 

House of (Shod, The : a place of worship, 
[loth cent.] 

House on one’s head. To pull a ; to get 
into trouble. 

House and home, To eat one out of : to 
flourish at the expense of another so 
as to endanger his welf^. [Shakes- 
peare, 2 Henry IV, II, i {i597”^)] 

House in order. To set one’s : to put one’s 
affairs straight. [Dryden, Absalom 
and Achiiophel : To the Reader (1681)] 

House, The Lower : see Lower. 

House, To keep open : to exercise general 
hospitality. [Thos. Nash, Summer's 
Last Will arid Testament, U. 1614-6 
(i6oo)l 

House of Bimmon, To bow down in the : 

to conform outwardly while opposed 


inwardly; as Naaman did in the 
Temple of Rimmon after his conversion 
to Judaism. [II Kings, v, 18] 

House, The Upper : see Upper. 

House out of ihe windows. To throw the : 
to t^ow everything into confusion. 
From the French. [Field, A Woman 
is a Weathercock, IV, ii (1612)] 

Houses, As safe as : thoroughly safe. 

Household gods : furniture and other 
domestic property. Metaphor drawn 
from the domestic gods of the 
Homans. 

Household Troops : troops appointed to 
guard the Royal Household, viz., the 
Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards, 
the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and 
Irish Guards. 

Household word, A : a proverbial saying 
familiar to everyone. [Shakespeare, 
Henry V, IV, iii, 51-5 (i599)] 

Housemaid’s knee : an affection of the 
knee, induced by kneeling. 

House-tops, To cry from the : to 
announce loudly and publicly. In 
allusion to a custom prevalent in the 
East. 

Housewarming, A : a social gathering 
held to celebrate the entrance into a 
new house. [Evdyn, Diary, Nov. 
28, 1661] 

Houyhnhnms, The ; a race of human 
horses described in Swift, Gnlliver's 
Travels (1726). 

Howard, The female ; Mrs. Elizabeth 
Fry (1780-1844). In allusion to John 
Howard (172^0), the philanthropist, 
who devoted himself to the wefiare 
of prisoners, 

Howards, The : the British aristocracy. 
The Howard family (Duke of Norfolk) 
stands at its head. 

Howe of the night. In the : in the middle 
of the night. 

Howler, A: a glaring blunder; that 
which metaphorically howls in the 
hearing of ^ose who know what is 
correct. 

Efowling wilderness, A : an empty 
wilderness. [Deuteronomy, xxxii, 10] 

Hub (of the Universe), The: Boston, 
Mass. In allusion to the following 
passage from Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. vi 
{1859) : ‘ Boston State-house is the 
hub of the solar system.* The hub is 
the centre of a wheel. 

Hub of the Universe (world). The : any 
centre considered by its inhabitants to 
be of great importance. 



Hub] 

Hub, Up to the : entirely ; as far as 
possible. Like a cart sunk in the mud 
up to the hub of its wheels. 

Hubert, Praise from Sir : see Praise. 

Huckleberry, Above one’s : out of one's 
reach. 

Huckleberry above one’s Persimmon, A : 
something beyond one's ability. In 
allusion to the preference in the 
Southern of the U.S. for the 
huckleberry above the persimmon 
fruit. 

Hudibrastic: mock-heroic. In the manner 
of Butler's Hudibras (1663). 

Hue and cry (Fr., huer, to shout after) : 
general pursuit after a fugitive. [A 
Warning for Faire Women, II, 11. 778 

(1599)] 

Huff and ding. To : to bounce and 
swagger. [Arbuthnot, History of John 
Bull, ch. 15 {1713)] 

Huggins and Muggins : a pretender to 
importance. Probably derived from 
Dutch, Hoogmogende, all-powerful, a 
title of the Dutch states-general. 
[Butler, Hudibras (1663)] 

Huguenot, A : a French protestant. The 
name first appeared in France about 
1560, having been introduced from 
Switzerland where it was in use as a 
political nickname. Qeenii.,Eidgenossen, 
confederates. 

Huguenot Pope, The : Philippe de 
Momay (1549-1623), Fr. protestant 
statesman and writer, 

Hull cheese. To eat : to get drunk. After 
Hull cheese, a strong beer formerly 
brewed at Hull. [Ray, Proverbs 

(1737)] 

Hull, As strong as : very strong indeed. 
In allusion to the former fortifications 
of the City of Hull, 

Hum and haw. To : to stammer and 
express hesitation in speech. In 
allusion to the meaningless sounds 
introduced between words by one who 
hesitates in his speech. [Rob. Amim, 
A Nest of Ninnies (1608)] 

Hum of m^. The busy : a busy cily or 
other resort of people. [Milton, 
V Allegro, 1. 120 (c. 1633)] 

Human day : see Clay. 

Human probability. In all : with practical 
certainty. \^£he Spectator, No. 72 

(1711)] 

Humaner Letters : see Litterae 
humaniores. 

Humanities, The : learning concerned 
with human culture, e.g., the lan- 
guages, literature, rhetoric. 


193 [Hundred 

Humble pie, To eat : to be subservient 
or obsequious, esp. to abandon a 
higher position. At hunting banquets 
the umbles (heart, liver, etc.) of 
venison were made into pies and 
reserved for the hunt servants, etc. 
Humbug ; A humbug : deception ; a 
deceiver. Either It., uomo brigiardo, 
a l3dng man, or Irish, zdm bog, soft 
copper, has been suggested as a 
derivation. In the second case there 
is a connection with the debased 
coinage, made of an alloy of copper, 
etc., which was issued from the Dublin 
mint by James II. [The Stu-dent, 
Vol. II, p. 41 (1751)] 

Humming beer ; strong beer, which 
causes the head of the drinker to hum. 
Humming cup of sack, A : a frothing 
cup of sack. 

Hump, To get the : to become ill- 
tempered and depressed. [Nashe, 
Lentefi Stuff e (1599)] 

Humphrey, To dine with Duke : to go 
hungry. The monument of Sir John 
Beauchamp in Old St. Paul's Cathedral 
was popularly believed to be that of 
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. 
Starving people used to frequent St. 
Paul's. Hence to dine with Duke 
Humphrey came to mean to have no 
dinner at aU. Another explanation, 
current at Oxford, is derived from the 
Bodleian Library, orig. founded by 
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. When 
a student remained in the Library dur- 
ing the dinner-hour he is said to have 
dined with Duke Humphrey. The 
phrase, however, orig. meant ‘ to 
accept hospitality,’ after the proverbial 
hospitality extended to allcomers by 
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (1391- 

1447)- 

Humpty Dumpty: (i) a short, stubby 
person ; (2) that which once damaged 
can never be repaired. From the 
nursery rhyme so-named. 

Hundred Days, The : March to June, 
1815. The period between Napoleon's 
escape from Elba and the Battle of 
Waterloo. The phrase was coined by 
the Comte de Chambord in addressing 
Louis XVHI. 

Hundred miles away (0^, Not a: a 
locution intended to indicate ‘ not very 
far away ' without indicating the exact 
place. 

Hundred Years’ War, The : the series of 
wars between England and France 
which lasted from about 1338 to 1453, 

o 



Hungl 1 04 

Hong up. To be : to be impeded, 
involved. [The Spectator, No. 551 
(1712)] 

Hungary Water : a perfume. After a 
Queen of Hungary to whom the recipe 
for it was given by a hermit. 

Hunger Strike, A : persistent abstention 
from food on the part of political 
prisoners, so as to secure their release 
or gain come concession to which they 
consider themselves entitled. The 
government in many instances con- 
ceded the demands in order to avoid 
the odium of permitting the prisoners 
to die in prison. The practice seems 
to have originated in Russia, but was 
widely practised by women political 
prisoners in England who were agi- 
tating for the enSranchisement of their 
sex during the first and second decades 
of the 20th cent., and also by Irish 
political prisoners somewhat later. 

Hungry Forties, The : the earlier half of 
the fifth decade of the 19th cent, in 
England immediately before the repeal 
of the Com Laws. 

Hungry (Greedy) as a hawk. As : very 
hungry. [M^ial, Epigrayns, Bk. IX, 

Iv, 9-10 ; Taylor, Short Relation of a 
Long Journey (1652)] 

Hungry as a hunter, As : very hungry, 
[Trapp {1650)] 

Hungry as a wolf. As : since ancient 
times the wolf has been in all countries 
the frequent illustration of a voracious 
eater. 

Hunkers : Conservatives ; Democrats 
in Amer. politics. Introduced c. 1845. 
Dutch, honk, home. 

Hunks, An old : a stingy old man. 
[Historie of Albino and Bellama 
(1638)] 

Hunt’s dog, lake : self-willed ; one who 
will do neither one thing nor the other. 
Hunt, a Yorkshire labourer, had a dog 
which he left at home when he went to 
church on Sundays, The dog barked 
and howled so loudly as to disturb the 
congregation. He then determined to 
take it with him to church, but the 
dog declined to enter the churchyard. 

Hunter, The mighty : Nimrod. 

Hunter, Mrs. Leo : a lady whose principal 
occupation is the attraction of 
celebrities into the social circle of 
which she is the centre. After a 
character in Dickens, Pickwick Papers 
(1836). 

Hunter’s Mass, A : any hurried pro- 
ceeding. Orig. a brief mass recited 


[Hydra-headed 

hurriedly by hunters eager to set oit 
for the chase. 

Hunter’s Moon, The : the full moon of 
the middle or end of October, the 
beginning of the hunting season. 

Huntingdon Sturgeon, A ; an ass's foal. 
In allusion to a stoiy told by Pepys in 
his Diary of the natives of Huntingdon 
mistaking a young donkey floating on 
the water for a sturgeon. 

Hurdygurdy, A (onomatopoeic) : a 
hand organ or other primitive musical 
instrument. [Peter Pindar, The 
Royal Tour (1795)] 

Hurly-burly, A : a noise ; disturbance. 
In allusion to the tumult of ancient 
battles, the hurling of spears, etc. 
[R. B., Appi::s and Virginia, 1 . 899 

{1563)] 

Husband’s boat, The : the boat that used 
to leave London for Margate on 
Saturday afternoons in the summer. 
IMany husbands used habitually to use 
it to join their families while on 
holiday. 

Husband’s tea : very weak tea. 

Hush up. To : to suppress all mention 
of . . [Bunyan, Holy War (1682)] 

Hush-money : money paid to avoid 
exposure ; blackmail. [Richard 
Steele, The Taller, No. 26 (1709)] 

Husk &om the grain. To separate : to 
separate the good from the bad. An 
agricultural metaphor. 

Hussar, A : a light cavalry soldier. 
Orig. one of the national cavalry of 
Hungary and Croatia. (Magj^ar, 
hiisz, twenty, ar, price of). Matthias 
Corvinus, King of Hungary, enjoined 
every twenty families to support one 
soldier. 

Hustle-cap, To play at : to play pitch 
and toss, a game in which coins are 
hustled or shaken together in a cap, 
[Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. ii (1822)] 

Hyacinth, A : a plant and its flower. 
After a Laconian youth who was killed 
by Apollo and from whose blood the 
flower sprang. 

Hybla, Bees of : the bees for which 
Hybla Minor in Sicily was famous 
in ancient times. 

Hyblean : sweet. In allusion to Hybla 
in Sicily whose hills were famous for 
their honey. 

Hydra-headed : many headed. In 

allusion to Hydra, a fabulous dragon 
of Grk. mythology, with nine heads, 
any one of which, if cut oS, was 
instantly replaced by two new ones. 



195 


Hydra-headed] 


[Hiad 


Hydra-headed multitude, The : the mob. 
[Dekker, The GulVs Hornbook, ch, 5 
(1609)] 

Hygiene : the science of health. From 
Hygeia, the goddess of health. 

Hymeneal ; Hymenean ; relating to 
marriage or a wedding. After H3maen, 
the god of marriage and nuptiis. 

Hymettus, Bee of : see Attic bee. 

Hyperborean : most northerly ; ex- 
tremely cold. Grk., hyper, excessive, 
and Boreas, the north wind. The 
Hyperborei were a mythical people 
who dwelt beyond the North Wind. 

Hyperion : (poetical) the sun. Properly, 
the father of the sun and moon. 

Hyphenated American : an American 
citizen of foreign birth or parentage, 
such as an Irish-American or a 
German- American . 


LD.B. : illicit diamond buying {q.v.). 

LH.S. [Lai,, Jesus Hominum S^vator) : 
Jesus, Saviour of Men. Orig. a Grk. 
contraction for Jesus. 

I.O.U* : a written admission of a debt. 
Contraction of ‘ I owe you.' [Breton, 
Court and Countryman (1618)] 

I per se : the letter I by itself. 

I’s and cross the T’s, To dot the : see 
Dot the I's, etc. 

Iberia’s Pilot : Christopher Columbus 
(1447-1506), In allusion to Iberia, 
the Grk. name for Spain and Portu- 
gal, the country of the Ebro. 

Icarian : soaring ; adventurous. After 
Icarus, who flew with his father from 
Crete. 

Ice, To break the : to initiate conversa- 
tion on a difacult or unpleasant topic. 

• Metaphor drawn from navigation in 
frozen waters. [Shakespeare, Taming 
of the Shrew, I, ii, 267 (1594)] 

Ice, To cut no : see Cut. 

Ice Saints : see Frost Saints. 

Ice-brook temper, Sword of : a sword of 
the finest temper. The Spanish 
sword makers used to plunge the 
weapons while still hot into the ice-cold 
water of the Salo. [JMartial ; Shakes- 
peare, Othello, V, ii (1604)] 

loh dien [Germ., I serve) : the motto of 
the Prince of Wales, acquired by 
Edward, the Black Prince, at the 
Battle of Cre9y (Aug. 26, 1346), where 
he slew the King of Bohemia, the 
former holder of it. 

Ichabod [fieh., the glory has departed) : 
an exclamation of lamentation. After 


the name given to the son of Phinehas. 
[I Sam., iv, 21] 

Iconoclast, An : one who rejects every- 
thing that savours of idolatry; one 
who is heedless of accepted prejudices. 
Lit. (Grk). a breaker of images. The 
original iconoclasts were a party of 
idol breakers who flourished on the 
Continent in the 8th and 9th cents. 
The name was afterwards applied to 
the Huguenots in France and to the 
Puritans in England. 

Ideal Ward : Wm. Geo. Ward, of the 
Oxford Movement (1812-82), 

Ides, The: the 15th of March, May, 
July and October and the 13th of the 
other months in the Roman calendar. 

Ides of March, The : a fatal day. After 
the day foretold for the murder of 
Julius Caesar. [Shakespeare, Julius 
CcBsar, I, ii (1601)] 

Idiot, The Inspired: Oliver Goldsmith 
(1728-74). So-caUed by Horace 
Walpole. 

Idleness, To eat the bread of: to live 
without labour. [Proverbs, xxxi, 27] 

Idles, To be sick of the: to be lazy. 
[Withal, Dictionary (1634)] 

Idols of the mmrket-place : errors of 
belief arising from language and social 
intercourse ; catch phrases whose 
original meaning is no longer heeded. 
[Francis, Lord Bacon {1625)] 

Ignis Fatuns, An [Lat., foolish fire) : 
[i\ a will of the wisp, apparent but un- 
approachable light floating over 
marshy ground ; (2) an Utopian 

scheme that cannot be realized. For 
the second sense see Francis Quarles, 
Shepherd's Oracles, nth Eclogue 
{1646), 

Hiad, An : a long series of struggles or 
troubles. After the title of Homer's 
great poem. 

Hiad of Old Blnglish Literature, The : 
The Knight* s Tale in Chaucer, Canter- 
bury Tales (14th cent). 

Hiad, The PiCTich : The Romance of the 
Rose (1230-70) by Guillaume di Lorris 
and Jean de Meung. 

Hiad, The Oerman : The Nibelungenlied 

Hiad of His (Woe), An : a number of 
troubles falling together. So-called by 
Cicero, Ad Atticum, VIII, ii. 

Hiad, The Portuguese : The Lusiad (i 572) 
of Camoens. 

Hiad, The Scotch ; The Epigoniad (17^7) 
of William Wilkie which is written in 
heroic couplets, based on the 4th 
book of the Iliad. 



m 


196 


[iQOll 


Bk, Of that {Scot.) ; of the same, i.g.. 
Grant of that ilk. Grant of Grant. 

Illicit Diamond Buying ; Z.D.B. : the 
S. African offence of purchasing 
diamonds stolen by employees of 
diamond-mining companies. 

lUiieraie Parliament, The : see Parlia- 
ment, The Lack-learning. 

lU-staired : unlucky ; bom under un- 
favourable stars. An astrological 
metaphor. 

Illuminated Doctor, The : (i) Raymond 
Lully (1235-1315), scholastic philoso- 
pher; (2) Johann Tauler (1300-61), 
Germ, mystic. 

Uluminati {Lat., Lit up) : the name 
borne by several religious sects which 
flourish^ in Europe from the 15th to 
the 19th cents. They claimed to enjoy 
a light on their subject superior to 
that of other mortals. 

Immortal Four of Italy, The : Dante, 
Petrarch Ariosto and Tasso, It. 
poets. 

Inunortal Maids, The : the nine Muses or 
goddesses of literature and music. 

Immorial Three, The : Homer, Dante, 
Milton, 

Immortal Tinker, The : John Bunyan 
(1628-88), author of The Pilgrim’s 
Progress, who was a tinker by trade. 

Immortals, The Forty : see Academy, 
French. 

Imperial, An : a style of beard, as worn 
by the Emp. Napoleon III. 

Imperial City, The : Rome. 

Imperinm in Imperio, An (La/., an 
empire within an empire) : an inde- 
pendent authority within the juris- 
diction of a government, [Wm. Penn, 
Some Fruits of Solitude, Pt. I, §354 

(1693)] 

Imperiom et Lihertas (Lai., Empire and 
Liberty) : phrase used by Lord 
Beaconsffeld at the Guildhall, London, 
on Nov. 9th, 1879, to describe the 
policy of his government. He had 
employed the same phrase in a speech 
on agricultural distress, Feb. nth, 
1851, The phrase had previously been 
used by Cicero in his peroration to 
4th Caiiline, and by Clarendon in his 
History of the ReheUion, I, 163 (1702). 

Improve the occasion. To : to draw a 
moral lesson from an event. 

In all conscience : as far as one can go 
without transgressing the laws. 

In capita (Lot., in chief) ; holding direct 
from the crown. [Staunford, King’s 
Prerogative, ch. i (154S)] 


In esse (Lat.) : in actual existence. 
[W. Warner, Albion*$ England, Bk. V, 
xxviii (15S9)] 

In excelsis (Lat., in the highest) : [W. 
Watson, Qiiodlihets of Religion and 
State (1602)] 

In extenso (Lot,, in full) : [Congress 
Debates, II, ii, 1767 (1826)] 

In extremis (Lot., in the last) : at the 
point of death. [Ellis, Original 
Letters, 3rd Sen, I, Ixxx, p. 199 
(c. 1548)] ^ 

In flagrante delicto : see Flagrante. 

In forma pauperis (Lai., in the form of a 
pauper) ; exempted from the payment 
of law costs. [Soliman and Perseda 


In loco parentis : see Loco parentis. 

In res (Lat., in the middle things) : 

into the middle of a narrative. 
[Horace, Ars Poetica, 148] 

In nuhibus (Lai., in the clouds) : not 
yet practicable. [Babington, Com- 
mandments (1583)] 

In partlbns (infid^um) (Lat., in the 
regions of the infidels) : part of the 
title of a bishop appointed nominally 
to a heathen or heretical country. 

In petto : (Lot,, in pectore, in the breast), 
privately. [Swift, Works (1701)] 

In petto, Oftriltnftifl : cardinals whom the 
pope intends to appoint, but whose 
names have not yet been disclosed. 
See In petto. 

In posse : (Lai., posse, to be able) 
possible but not actual ; the opposite 
of In esse (q.v.). [R. Burton, Anatomy 

(1621)] 

In propria persona (Lai., in one's own 
person) : not by deputy or in writing. 
[Congreve, Double Dealer, IV, i (169^] 

In re (Lai.) : in the matter of. [W. 
Watson, Quodlibets of Religion and 
State (1602)] 

in statn quo (Lat.) : in the same state 
as . . ; generally, in the same state as 
formerly. [Mabbe, Transl. of Aleman, 
Life of Guzman d’Alfarache (1623)] 

In toto (Lot) : entirely. [Wotton, 
Reliq. : Survey of Education, p. 293 

(1651)] 

Ins and onts of • • The : all the details 
of .. 

Inaccessible as Abaton, As : see Abaton. 

Incense on a dunghill. To sprinkle : see 
Sprinkle. 

Inch of : a former method of sale 
by auction, according to which the 
bidding remained open while the candle 
burnt down an inch. 



Inch] 


197 


[Inkle-weavecs 


Inch and he will take an d]» Give him an : 
peld a little and he will demand a 
lot. The ell varies from 27 to 54 
inches. [Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 
&idh of Within an: to the very 
utmost of .. [Lilly, GaUathea, I, iv 


Inoomiplihle, The: Maximilian Robes' 
pierre (i758-94)» Fr. revolutionary 
leader. So-called by Thos. Carlyle. 

Increment, Unearned : sea Unearned. 

Inciuialnila : books printed before 1500 ; 
the earliest stages of anything. (Lat., 
swaddling clothes ; childhood.) The 
application of the word is derived from 
the idea that the 15th cent, was the 
period of the infancy of printing. 

Indemnity Aci» An : an act of parliament 
giving exemption from punishment 
incurred by illegal action. 

Independence Day : the 4th of July ; the 
anniversary of the Amer. Declaiation 
of Independence in 1776. 

Index; Index Libroriun FrohiMtonim: 
the official list of books forbidden by 
the R.C. Church to be read by faith- 
ful Catholics. 

Index Ckmstltaenoy, An : a parlia- 
mentary constituency that polls evly 
in a general election and thus gives 
some index or intimation of the 
probable genexal result. 

Index ^mnigatoiina ; Index Idhronun 
Expnigandomm : a list of books 
permitted by the R.C. Church to 
be read only after deletion of certain 


passages. 

Index-*l6aming : superficial knowledge 
gained from indexes and similar 
material, instead of from the books 
themselves. pPope, The Dunciad, Bk. 
I (X728)] 

TTi diaw drag. The : tobacco. On account 
of its discovery among the N. American 
Indians. 


Tn^tan pQe : sin^e file. Order adopted 
by N. American-Indians when on the 
march, in order to conceal or obliterate 


their tracks. 

TndlaTt gift. An : a reclaimed gift. In 
allusion to the expectation of the N. 
American-Indian when he makes a gift, 
either to receive one in return or to 
have his own restored to him. 

Tuflian gonuner. An : a period of warm, 
pleasant weather in the late autumn, 
In allusion to the period of fine weather 
usual in November, of which the N. 
American-Indians take advantage in 
Older to complete their harvest. 


Indies, The wealth of fhe : proverbially 
great wealth. In allusion to that 
drawn by Spain from her Amer. 
colonies. A similar phrase was used 
by cl Trag ical writers in allusion to Inffia. 

IndnlgenoOb An : a remission of a punish- 
ment for sin, granted by the R.C. 
Church. 

Jhdnlgenoes to Borneo To send : to 
perform a labour of superCTogation. 

Inexpressibles : trousers, which may not 
be mentioned, or expressed m words, 
by the prudish. [Peter Pindar, A 
Rowland for an Oliver : Ode to 
Affectation (1790)] 

juftiJIiMnty , : (in ridicule) the Pope. 
In allusion to tiie doctrine of papal 
infallibility. 

Infant prodigy. An : a child of precocious 
genius. [D. E. Williams, Life of Sir 
Thomas Lawrence, I, 51 (1831)] 

Xofemal maddneii An: an ei^losive 
machine used by terrorists for the 
perpetration of outrages. 

Innzmity of a noble sund. The last : 

see Last. 

Infra dig. : a corruption of ^t., infra 
dignitatem, beneatii one's digni^. 

Inglorious arts of peace : see Peace. 

Iniiiaiive^ The : a political instrument 
whereby a certain number of electors 
can initiate proposals for consideration 
by the legislature. 

Infchnm mate. An : a dilettante in 
reading or writing. In allusion to the 
horn in which clerks used fonnerly to 
carry their pens, ink, etc. [Shakes- 
peare, 1 Henry VI, III, i (1592)] 

Inkhoni, To smell of the : to be pedantic. 
[Geo. Gascoigne, InstritcHon in English 

lokhotn TnVhmufaTifm : 

studied expressions, which suggest 
careful prg)aration. [Wilson, Art of 
Rhetoric, it (1353) ; Jos. Hall, Satires, 
Bk. I, viii, 7-12 (1597)]^ . 

Inkpot; Sons and dau^terfl of fhe: 

writers for the press. 

Inkpot tenn, An : see Inkhom tenn. 

Inkriinging: reckless writing in the 
newspapers, etc. 

iDkle-weaTezs, As great (thick) as two : 
extremely intimate. On account of 
the intimacy of the weavers of inkle 
(linen tape) who work very closely 
together. An alternative derivation 
is from the secrecy with which the 
Flemish weavers who introduced the 
industry into England in the x6th 
cent, guarded their craft. These 



Inldingr] 19S [lion 


weavers were few in number, amd j 
forming a dose corporation amid alien i 
surroundings, became proverbial for ' 
their mutuad friendship. [Dictionary ; 
of the Canting Crew (1700)] 
lobdbig of . . get (have) an : to get a | 
hint or suspicion of . . [He3rwood, ; 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Tung of Cbnxiy The : the Inner Temple, i 
the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn and i 
Gray's Iim. ! 

Inner m»ni The i the stomach. 

Innocent as a bahe nnboin, As : quite • 
hairmless or innocent. [Middleton, 1 
Family of Love (1608)] 

Innocent as a (sucking) dove. As : the | 
dove is one of the emblems of innocence ! 
and is referred to ais such in Matthew, j 
X, 16. [Wm. Rowley, A Woman j 
Never Vexed, IV, i (1632)] 1 

Innocents’ Day : December 28th. A ; 
Festival in commemoration of the 
slaughter of the Innocents by Herod, j 
Innocents, The Massacre of the: the : 
amnounc^nent in the House of { 
Commons, towairds the end of a session, 
of the measures already introduced 
with which it is not proposed to pro- 
ceed further. 

Inquisition, The : a Roman Catholic 
tribunal, instituted in 1215 for the 
suppression of heresy, which became 
notorious for its extreme tyranny and 
cruelty. 

Insane root. The : hemlock, which was 
formerly supposed to induce insanity. 
Instibition, The : slavery. 

Ihstrament of Instruments, The : the 
hand. [Anth. Brewer, Lingua, IV. 
vi (1607)] 

Insult to injury. To add : to ofEend as 
well as harm. [Cicero, Pro TulHo, 
XVII, 41 ; Horace, Odes, HI. v. 26] 
InteOigenoia, The: the professional or 
educated class, derived as a rule from 
the lower class in the commimlty, 
whose education has aroused ambitions 
or desires the realization of which are 
prevented by the circumstances in 
which they find themselves. This 
class, of its nature dissatisfied, has 
often taken a prominent part in recent 
continental political revolutions. 

Intents and purposes, To all: practically. 

[Hazlitt, Characteristics, § 102 (1837)] 
Inter et lupum {Lot., between the 

dog and the wolf) : between two 
difdculties. 

International, The : the international 
socialist organization founded bv Karl 


Marx in London in 1864. Properly, 
The International Workingmen’s 
Association. 

Xntransigeant, An ; Intransigent, An : 
an advanced Radical or Republican, 
steadfast in his opinions and averse^ 
from compromise. Lat., in, not," 
and iransigere, to come to an agree- 
ment. 

Invindhles, The : an Amer.-Irish revolu- 
tionary society, esp. active from 1880 
to 1885. 

Invincible Doctor, The : William of 
Occam (d. c. 1349), scholastic phil- 
osopher and Fremciscan. 

luvisihle ESng, The : God. 

lavita Iffinerva (Lat.) : with difficulty 
(esp. mental). Lit., Minerva (the 
goddess of Wisdom) being unwilling. 
[Cicero, De Officiis, I, 31 ; Horace, 
Ars Poetica, 385] 

lo psean : a paan of joy. After Apollo 
Paan, the healing god. See lo. To 
sing. 

lo, To sing : to utter exclamations of 
joy. lo was the Lat. and Grk. exclam- 
ation of joy. [Jas. Shirley, Poems: 
lo! (1646)] 

Ionic accomplishments : gesture and 
dress. Ionia was one of the divisions 
of ancient Greece, 

Ipse dixit. An : Lat. transl. of (Grk.) 
Avtoc Himself said it, a plirase 
used by the disciples of P3rthagoras 
Zacynthius (fl. 540-510 B.C,). An 
ipse dixit has come to mean a state- 
ment which displays self-confidence. 
[Poston Letters, III, No. 808 (1477)] 

Ipsissima verba [Lot,, the exact words) : 
[Southey, Letters, II (1807)] 

Ipso facto {Lot., by the very fact) ; apart 
from all external considerations. 
[Liturgical Services of Queen Elisabeth 

(1559)1 

Triah Aviator, The : Daniel O'Connell 
(1775-1847). 

Irish apricots : potatoes. 

Irish bolls : see Bull. 

Irish of the East, The : the Burmese. 

Irish Levellers : see Levellers. 

Irish wedding. To go to an : to receive a 
black eye. lu fusion to the quarrels 
suppos^ to break out as a rule at 
festivities among the Irish. 

Irishman’s crossing. An : a method of 
progress by frequent crossing and re- 
crossing of the street in order to avoid 
comers. 

Iron Age, An : an age of suffering and 

'oinrTr«lT»#»cc 



Iron] I 9 Q 

Iron Age, Tlie : the last and the worst 
of the periods of the world^s life. 

Iron, Blood and : see Blood. 

Iron Chancellor, The : Prince Otto von 
Bismarck (1815-98). In allusion to 
his iron will. 

Iron City, The : Pittsburg, U.S.A. In 
allusion to its iron manufactures. 

Iron Cross, The : a Prussian decoration 
awarded for bravery on the battlefield. 

Iron discipline : the strictest discipline. 

Iron dogs of the air, The : church-bells. 
So-called by Heine. 

iron Duke, The : the Duke of Wellington 
(1769-1852). The term was first 
applied to a steamboat, named The 
Duke of Wellington. 

Iron Emperor, The : Nicholas I of 
Russia (179^-1855)- 

Iron enters into his sonl, The : he is the 
object of very hard usage or severe 
treatment. After the incorrect Vulgate 
version of Psalm civ, 18, which should 
have been translated, ' His person 
entered into the iron.* 

Iron hand in a velvet glove, An : rigid 
firmness, accompanied by courtesy 
and politeness. 

Iron horse, The : the railway engine. 

Iron is hot, To strike while the : to take 
advantage of the opportunity that is 
offered. [He5rwood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Iron Maiden of Nuremberg, The : an 
instrument of torture, lined with 
spikes and constructed so as to embrace 
a man. 

Iron, A man of ; a man of very strong 
character. 

Iron mask, The man in the : a mysterious 
prisoner in the Bastille in the reign of 
Louis XIV whose identity has never 
been disclosed. 

Iron rations : emergency army rations, 
consisting of tins of meat and soup and 
hard biscuits. 

Iron, To rule with a rod of: to rule 
tyrannically. 

Iron to swim, To teach : see Teach. 

Irons in the fbe, Other : alternative 
courses of action. [Seneca, Apocolo- 
cyyitosis Claudii Caesayis, 9 ; G. 
Harvey, Piercers Supererogation (1593)] 

Irons in the fire. To have too many : to 
be engaged in too many undertakings. 
[Sir W. Paget (1549)] 

Irons, Just off the : just finished his 
training. [Scott, Red Gaimtlet, Letter 
13 (1824)] 

Ironclad, An : a great armoured man- 
of-war. 


[Isle 

Ironclad Oath, The : the oath of oiG&ce 
instituted in the U.S. at the conclusion 
of the Civil War and intended to' 
exclude all possible opponents of the 
Union. 

Ironsides : Cromwell’s troops. So-called 
from their invincible determination in 
battle. 

Irony of fate. The : a development of 
events that induces a cause to have 
the opposite of its expected effect. 

Irredentism : the political movement for 
the incorporation in a st^c of neigh- 
bouring territory inhabited by a popu- 
lation racially identical with the 
population of the state to be enlarged. 
Orig. the movement to incorporate in 
Italy the Italian-speaking territories 
of Austria. From the political cry, 
Italia irredenta^ Italy unredeemed. 

Irrefragable Doctor, The : Alexander of 
Hales (d. 1245), Eng. scholastic 

philosopher. 

Irritable Genus, The : poets and other 
men of letters. [Horace, Epistles, II, 
ii, 102] 

Irtish Perry, To cross the : to be sent into 
retirement or exile. The ferry on the 
Irtish was crossed by political prisoners 
who went into exile in Siberia during 
the period of the Czars. 

Ims, As poor as : very poor. In allusjon 
to the beggar Irus, who acted as 
messenger between the suitors and 
Penelope during the absence of Ulysses 
at the Trojan War. [Odyssey, XVIII] 
The simile was current in Grk. and 
Rom. literature. 

Irvingites : see Catholic Apostolic 
Church. 

Ishmadite, An : an outlaw. After 
Ishmael, 'whose hand was against 
every man.' 

Island City, The : Montreal, Canada. 

Island of Saints, The : Ireland. On 
account of the strong hold Christianity 
had on its inhabitants in early days. 

Island of the Seven Cities, The: an 
imaginary earthly paradise, supposed 
to have been discovered by seven 
bishops who left Spain during the 
period of the Moors. 

Islands of the Blest, The : the Fortunate 
Islands [qjv.). 

Isle of Death, The : Norfolk Island, a 
convict settlement. 

Isle of Lanterns, The; Lantem-land: 
an imaginary land inhabited by 
pretenders to knowledge. [Rabelais, 
Pantagruel, V, 32-33)] 



200 


Isle] 


[Jack 


Isle of Mist, The : the Isle of Skye. In 
allusion to its customary weather. 

Tpift of Saints, The : Island of Saints. 

Isles, The Fortunate : see Fortunate 
Islands. 

Tamg : movements, doctrines and 

theories. In allusion to the termina- 
tion * ism,’ denoting a movement, 
doctrine or theory. 

Isocrates, The French : Flechier (1632- 
1710), Bp- of Nismes. After Isocrates, 
the fsimous Athenian orator who lived 
from 436 to 338 B.C. 

Issachar’s ears : ass’s ears. In allusion 
to the blessing of Issachar in Genesis, 
xlix, 14. 

Italia Irredenta (It., Italy unredeemed) : 
lands adjacent to Italy inhabited by 
an Italian-speaking population under 
alien rule. They now comprise part of 
Istria and Dalmatia in Jugo-Slavia, 
Ticino in Switzerland, Nice, Malta 
and Corsica. 

Italian i^ehdi : see Froebel. 

Ttfilift-n Moline, The ; Carlo Goldoni 
(1707-^3). After Jean Baptiste 
Molifere, the distinguished Fr. drama- 
tist, who lived from 1622 to 1673. 

Ite^dan Findar, The : Gabriel Chiabrera 
(1552—1637). After Pindar, Theban 
lyric poet, who lived from 522 to 443 
B.C. 

Italic : a kind of printing type invented 
by Aldus Manutius (c. 1500) and dedi- 
cated by him to the States of Italy. 

Italiote, An : an Italian subject of 
Greek race. 

Italy, Young : see Young Italy. 

Itch for . . To have an : to have a great 
desire for . . [Greene, Selimus, Pt. I, 
U. 188-9 (1594)] , . ^ 

Itch for gold. An : a great desire for 
money. 

Itehing ears. To have : to be inquisitive 
or eager for news. [II Timothy, iv, 3] 

Itching palm. An : a great desire for 
money. [Shakespeare, Julius Casar, 
IV, iii, 10 (1603)] 

Ivan Ivanovitch : the general name for 
a Russian. 

Ivory, Black : African slaves. Both 
slaves and ivory were exported from 
the same region. 

Ivory (rate. The : in classical mythology 
the gate of sleep through which false 
dreams enter. The phrase is based 
upon a Grk. pun, elephas, ivory, and 
elephairontai, to cheat with vain hopes. 

Ivo^, To touch : to play at dice or 
billiards. 


Ivy bosh. To beat the same : see Beat. 

Ivy hash, Like an owl in an : with a 
sapient, vacant stare. Ivy bushes 
were supposed to be the favourite 
haunts of owls. 

ladon : disappointment following un- 
justified expectation. In allusion to 
the mythical king of Thessaly who, 
desiring Jnno, was punished by being 
bound to a wheel kept in perpetual 
motion. 

Ixion’s wheel : the treadmill. In 
allusion to Ixion, King of Thessaly. 


Jack, A : (i) a boy or lad ; (2) a worthless 
paltry fellow ; (3) an instrument that 
takes the place of a boy, e.g., a boot- 
jack. 

Jack of . . To be on the : to attack with 
violence. From Jack, a horse-soldier’s 



Jaek-boy, A : a stable boy or other boy 
employed as a menial. [Pol. Poems 
(1401)] 

Jack-of-aU-traies, A : a handy man, who 
can turn his hand to a variety of 
occupations. Often master of none. 
[Lady Alimony, II, ii (1633)] 

Ja^ of both sides, A ; a person who shifts 
his support from one party to another 
in a controversy. [Nashe, Terrors of 
the Night (i594)] 

Jack of the bowl : a Swiss fairy ; for 
whose provision a bowl of refreshment 
was set in the house every night. 

Jack Brag : a vulgar braggart. From a 
novel of that title by Theodore Hook 
(1837). But see Withal, Dictionarie 
(1608), for Jacke Bragger, in the same 
sense. 

Jack, To be common : to be at everyone’s 
beck and call. [He5rwood, Proverbes 

(1546)] ^ ^ 

Jack, Cousin : a Cormshman. 

Jack-a-Dandy : a pert fellow. [Brome, 
Northern Lass, III, ii (1632)] 

Jaok-ont-of-dooi^ A : a homeless person. 
[Withal, Dictionarie (1634)] 

Ja^-a-diranis : a dreamer, one who 
wastes his life. 

Jaok-a-drognes : a lazy, good-natured 
fellow. Dutch, druilen, to be listless. 

Jack (John) (Tom) Drum’s entertainment: 
the forcible expulsion of a person. In 
allusion to the drumming of a person 
out of the army. [Stephen Gosson, 
Schools of Abuse (1579) ; Jacke 
Drum*s Entertainment (x6oi}] 



201 


Ja(&] 

Jack Fletcher and his holt, As like as : 
unlike. ' Jack Fletcher' is Jack the 
fletcher, and * his bolt' the arrow 
which he has made. [Richard 
Edwards, Damon and Pithias, 1. 105 

(1567}] 

Jack Fool, A : a Tom Fool. [A Warning 
for Faive Women, II, 11. 161-3 (i599)] 

Jack Frost : the personification of frost. 

Jack-gentlewoman, A : a woman of low 
birth or manners who pretends to be 
a lady. 

Jack and Gill (Jill) : the boy and girl in 
Eng. nursery song. The story is 
derived from Icelandic m3rthology. 

Jack in the green : a puppet character 
in the Eng. May-day games. 

Jack-hold-my-staff : a servile attendant. 

Jack Ketch : a hangman. From Richard 
Jacquett, the owner of Tyburn Manor, 
the place of execution near London. 

Jack-0 -Lantern : the ignus fatuus (q-v.). 

Jaok-a-Lent : a puppet used as an object 
at which to throw missiles as an amuse- 
ment during Lent. 

Jack in the low cellar, A : an unborn 
child. Dutch, Hans-en-kelder (q.v.). 

Jack among the maids, A : a gallant. 

Jack, Every man : see Man. 

Jack-meddler, A : a busybody. [Withal, 
Dictionarie (1608]] 

Jack Nokes (Noakes) : stf^John-a-Noakes. 

Jack of Norfolk : see Jockey of Norfolk. 

Jack in office, A: a self-important 
official, generally of low rank. 

Jack out of office* A : one who has ceased 
to be a Jack in office (q.v.), [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Jack, To play the : to play the rogue ; 
to lead astray like a Jadc-o'-Lantem. 
[Shakespeare, The Tempest, IV, i 
(1609-10)] 

Jack Padding, A : a showman's buffoon. 
[Milton, Defence of the People of 
England (1651)] 

Jack BoMnson, Before you c^ say : 
very promptly. Jack Robinson is 
said to have been an eccentric who 
made a practice of paying sudden and 
very brief visits to his neighbours. 
The phrase is a quotation from a 
comic song by Hudson (early 19th 
cent.). 

Jactk-sauce : an insolent male person. 

Jack-snip : a tailor, esp. an inefficient 
one. 

Jack Sprat : a dwarf. According to the 
nursery rh3mie he could ^t no fat. 
[Marriage of Wit and Science, IV, i 

(1570J] 


[Jail 

Jack Straw : a man of straw ; a worthless 
man or one of no consequence. [New 
Custom, I, i (1573)] 

Ja<db: Tar, A : a seaman. Jack is the 
generic name for a man of the lower 
classes ; tax is from tarpaulin which 
formed part of the sailor’s clothing in 
bad weather. 

Jack-in-the-water, A : a loafer near the 
water's edge, willing to wet his feet 
for a gratuity. 

Jackanap&i, A : a saucy fellow ; combin- 
ation of Jack and ape. [Rich. 
Edwards, Damon and Pithias, 1. 925 

(1567)] 

Jack-hoots : high leather boots. When 
first worn by cavalry the legs were 
protected by Jacques or metal plates. 

Jacob’s ladder : a rope-ladder used on 
board ship. 

Jacob’s staff: a pilgrim's staff. In 
allusion to the pilgrimages to St. 
James of Compostella, or to the 
representations of the Apostle James 
with a steiff. 

Jacob’s Stone : the Coronation Stone in 
Westminster Abbey. Said to be the 
stone on which the patriarch Jacob 
slept when he dreamt of the angels 
ascending and descending. 

Jacobin, A : a member of a party of 
extreme Fr. revolutionists in 1789 ; a 
seditious demagogue. From the 
monastery of the J acobin friars in Paris 
in which the Jacobin party used to hold 
their meetings. The friars derived 
their name from the Rue St. Jacques 
in Paris, where their monastery was 
situated. 

Jacobite^ A: a supporter of James II 
and his house aiter their expulsion. 
Lat., Jacobus, James. 

Jacquard loom, A : a waving loom 
invmited by Jos. Marie Jacquard 

(1752-1834). 

Jacquerie, La : the peasant revolt in 
France of 1358. After Jacques Bon- 
homme (J ames Goodman), the popular 
name for the Fr. peasant. 

Jacques : a Fr. artisan or peasant. 

Jacques Bonhomme (James Goodman) : 
the popular name for the Fr. peasant. 
Orig. applied in contempt by thenobles. 

Jade, The : fortune. In reference to her 
proverbial fickleness. 

Jaeger : hygienic woollen clothing. After 
the Germ, hygienist, G. Jaeger, who 
advocated all-wool clothing. 

Jail bird, A : a prisoner or ex-prisoner. 
The earliest prison for malefactors 



jamiel [jemmy 


in England was in the form of an open- 
air iron cage. 

JamieDtiff : a mourner. After an 

eccentric of that name who delighted 
in attending funerals. 

Jamrach, A : a dealer in wild animals. 
After Johann Christian Carl (Charles) 
Jamrach (1815-91), a London dealer 
in wild animals. 

Janissary} A i a soldier forcibly recruited 
while a young child and kept under 
militaiy” control for a very long period. 
Esp. in Turkey (Christian) and Russia 
(Jew.). The Turkish Janissaries who 
formed a privileged class were dis- 
banded in 1825. Veni Askary, 

new soldier. Hence the mercenary 
soldier of a tyi^t. 

Jazisenists i a religious sect prominent in 
France in the 17th and i8th cents. 
Suppressed in 1713. From Cornelius 
Jansen, Bp. of Ypres (1585-1638). 

January : the jBLrst month of the year. 
After Janus, the Rom. god of doors 
and gates, to whom the month was 
sacred. 

Janus, To play : to be deceitful and two- 
faced. In allusion to the two faces of 
the god. Janus. [Dekker and Webster, 
Wssiward Ho, IV, i (1607)]. 

Janns, The Temple of : a Rom. temple 
whose doors were kept open in times of 
war and closed in those of peace. 

Janus, Two-headed J the two-faced god 
whose temple at Home was always 
kept open during time of war and 
closed when the republic was at peace, 

Japan, To : to varnish objects in the 
manner of the Japanese. 

Jaciuemait, A : a clock whose hours are 
indicated by the movements of figures 
of a man and woman. After Jean 
Jaq^uemart of Bijon, who invented 
that style of clock. 

jMfrman, A : an Abram man (?.».) ; 
a beggar possessed of some education 
of which he makes full use. From 
Jark, the seal of a forged document, 

Jaznao, Le coup de Jamac’s thrust) : 

a peculiar blow in fencing similar to 
that given by Jamac in a duel with 
La Chateignerail before Henri II in 
July, 1547- 

Jamdyce suit, A : an interminable law- 
suit. In allusion to the Chancery suit 
of Jamdyce and Jamdyce, described 
in Dickens* Bleak House (1852). 

Jairey, A : a hackney-coach driver. In 
allusion to Jarvis, the name of a 
notorious one who was hanged. 


Jaundiced eye, A : a prejudiced eye. 

Jaws of death. The : a position of 
extreme danger. [Shakespeare, 

Night, III, iv, 394 (i 6 oi )3 

Jay, A : a foolish young man who 
squanders his money. After the 
initial letter of Juggins, such a one who 
was notorious in England for a time 
in 1887. 

Jay Hawker State, The: Kansas. In 
allusion to Colonel Jennison of New 
York, the commander of the troops 
there, who was known as the Gay 
Yorker. 

Jeames (de la Pluche) : a footman or 
other flunkey. Corruption of James. 
[Thackeray, Jeames*s Diary (1845)] 

Jean Orapaud : see Johnny Crapaud. 

Jean de la Suie : a Savoyard. 

Jedburgh Justice : summary punishment 
with or without trial. From the 
measures taken in the reign of James I 
{yi of Scotland) to suppressborder raid- 
ing in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh. 

Jeddart Justice : Jedburgh Justice (q,v,), 

Jedwood Justice: Jedburgh Justice (^.v.). 
J edwood is the district of which 
Jedburgh is the centre. 

Jee, On the : uncomfortable ; irritated. 
[R. L. Stevenson, Cairiona, ch. xxiii 

(1893)3 

JeiMes, As bad as : probably a reference 
to George Jeffreys (1648-89), the 
notorious Judge Jefireys of Mon- 
mouth's Rebellion. 

Jehoiada bos; A : a box for savings. 
After Jehoiada, the priest, who placed 
a box at the gate of Jerusalem to 
receive money for the repair of the 
Temple. [II Chronicles, xxiv] 

Jehu, A : a coachman, esp. a furious 
driver. In allusion to J^u, King of 
Israel. [II Kings, ix, 20 ; J. Crouch, 
Return of Charles II (1660)] 

Jeikyll and Hyde : a person possessing 
two apparently distinct characters, 
one good and the other eviL From 
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and 
Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson 
(1885). 

Jellyby, A Mrs. : a lady who devotes 
hers^ to public philanthropy and 
neglects her domestic duties. In 
allusion to a character in Dickens' 
Bleak House (1852). 

Jemxnie Duff : see Jamie Duff. 

Jemmy Jessamy (Jessamine) : foppish, 
effeminate. From Jemmy (a fop) and 
Jessamy (a fop who wears jessamine 
in his buftonhole). 



203 


Jen3dns’s] 

Jenkins’s ear : the ear alleged to have 
been cut off Robert Jenkins, the 
cause of the war between Britain and 
Spain of 1739. 

Jenneting, A : a species of early apple. 
After St. Jean, whose day, June 14th, 
falls about the time of the ripening of 
the apple. 

Jenny, A : a man who concerns himself 
with women's affairs. From the 
female name. 

Jenny I’Ouvri^re {Fr., Jenny the worldng- 
woman) : an industrious seamstress. 
Name invented by Emile Barateau 
(1847). 

Jeremiad, A : a tale of trouble and 
misfortune. From Jeremiah, the 
prophet and author of the Book of 
Lamentations. 

Jeremiah, A : a prophet of woe. See 
Jeremiad. 

Jeremiah, The British : Gildas {516-70), 
author of Lamentations over the 
Destruction of Britain. So-called by 
Gibbon. 

Jeremy Diddler : see Diddler. 

Jericho, Go to : Jericho was the name of 
a country manor of Henry VIII to 
which he used sometimes to retire. 
The phrase has also been derived from 
Thos. Heywood, who in his Hierarchies 
Bk. IV, p. 208 (1635), used Jericho in 
the sense of a place of concealment or 
banishment. The allusion is to 
II Samuels x, 5, where David bids his 
servants, who had had half their 
beards cut off, ‘ to tarry at Jericho till 
their beards were grown.* 

Jericho, To walk to : to conceal oneself ; 
to go into hiding. From II Samuel, 
X, 5, where David bade his servants 
tarry in Jericho until their beards 
were grown. 

Jerman’s (German’s) lips. As Just as : 
apparently an allusion to the firm 
compression of the lips practised 
by Germans. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Jeroboam (of mm, etc.), A : a large 
bottle or bowl. In allusion to Jero- 
boam, King of Israel, * a mighty 
man of valour,* ‘ who made Israel to 
sin,* 

Jerry-builder, A ; one who erects cheap 
badly-built houses for immediate sale. 
Said to be derived from Fi.sjour, a day, 
suggesting temporary. The term 
came into use in Liverpool about 1830. 
There ma^" also be a connection with 
Jericho, whose walls were unstable. 


[Jews’ 

Jerry shop (Tom and Jerry shop). A: 
a low-class public house. From the 
one made famous in Pierce Egan, 
Life in London (1821). 

Jerrysneak, A : a henpecked husband. 
In allusion to a character in Foote, 
Mayor of Garratt (1764). 

Jerrymander : see Gerr^ander, 

Jemsalem artichoke, A : Jerusalem is a 
corruption of Girasole (It.), a sunflower, 
which it resembles. 

Jemsalem (Jew’s) Letters : inscriptions 
tattooed on the body. In allusion to 
the former practice of tatooing on the 
arm of visitors to Jerusalem, the name 
of the city, the date and the sign of the 
Cross. 

Jemsalem pony ; Jemsalem, A : a 
donkey. In allusion to the one on 
which Christ entered Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem pony, A : an impecunious 
clerg3mian who hires out his services 
to colleagues. 

Jesse, To give a person : to give a person 
a sound thrashing, to abuse him 
severely . In allusion to the valour of 
Jesse, the father of David. 

Jesse Tree, A : a genealogical tree 
exhibited in churches in the Middle 
Ages, in which was traced the descent 
of Christ from Jesse. 

Jesse Window, A : a church window 
decorated with a Jesse Tree (q.v.). 

Jests, The Father of : see Father. 

Jesuit’s bark : Cinchona. Introduced 
from S. America by Jesuit missionaries, 

Jeu d’Esprit {Fr., a play of wit) : a 
witticism. Used in Eng. in No. 305 
of The Spectator (1712). 

Jeu de moiC A [Fr., a play on a word) : 
a pun. [Sir W, Scott, Peveril of the 
Peak (1822)] 

Jeunesse dor#e [Fr., gilded youth) : the 
young men of Paris who attempted a 
counter-revolution in 1794. Also the 
young and wealthy class of society 
generally. 

Jew, As rich as a : from the mistaken 
belief that all, or most, Jews are 
wealthy. 

Jewish Plato, The : Philo Judaeus 
(c. 20 B.C. — c. 40 A.D.), AJexandrian 
Jewish philosopher. 

Jewish Socrat^ The : Moses Mendels- 
sohn (1729-86), 

Jews’ ears : a fungus that grows on the 
elder tree. Lat., Auriculae Judae, 
Judas's ears. From the tradition that 
Judas hanged himself on an elder 
1 tree. 



204 


Jew’s] 

Jew’s eye. To be worth a : to be of great 
value. From the practice of some of 
the medieval kings of England of 
threatening blinding as a method of 
extorting money from J ews. 

Jew’s harp, A : a primitive musical 
instrument, played with the teeth. 
Corruption of jaws* harp ; or from 
Fr., jen, a geone. 

Jews’ tetters : see Jerusalem Letters. 

Jews’ Tr^ The : the Eucalyptus. So- 
called by the Arabs of Palestine, into 
which country it was introduced by 
modem Jewi^ settlers. 

Jezebel, A : a brazen-faced, vicious 
woman. In allusion to the wife of 
Ahab, king of IsraeL 

Jezebd, A painted : a woman who paints 
her face. In allusion to Jezebel, the 
queen of Ahab, king of Israel. See 
preceding entry. 

m, The cat of one’s : one*s personal 
appearance. Orig. a sailor* s ex- 
pression, drawn &om the jib of a 
ship. 

Jiffy, hi a : (coUoq.) in a very short 
time. [MiincAAaif sen's Travels, XXIII, 

96 (17S5)] _ . _ 

JiU. A: a young woman. Contraction 
of Juliana. 

Jim Crow: a nigger in the U.S. 
(coUoq.j. The name was derived from 
a song by Thomas D. Rice (1835). 

Jim Crow car, A : a public conveyance 
set aside for negroes, esp, in the 
southern of the U.S. 

Jim Dandy, A : a rare example, a fine 
specimen. 

Jimson weed : a poisonous weed. From 
Jamestown. 

Jingo, A; Jingoism: an extreme 
blustering pseudo-patriot ; chauvin- 
ism, exaggerated patriotism. From 
the refrain of a music-hall song, * We 
don't want to fight, but, by Jingo ! 
if we do,* supporting Lord Beacons- 
field’s foreign policy, and current in 
1878. 

Jingo, By : an oath. Jingo was a god 
of the heathen Basque mercenaries 
who were introduced into England by 
Edward I. 

Jis, By : an oath. Probably a corrup- 
tion of By Jesus. 

Joan Cromwell’s kitchen-stuff tab : 
kitchen perquisites. In allusion to a 
charge brought by Royalists against 
the wife of the Protector Cromwell. 

Job, A: (1) a person of inexhaustible 
patience ; in allusion to the central 


[John 

figure of the Book of Job; (2) an 
appointment or transaction made at 
the public expense from corrupt or 
semi-corrupt motives. So used by 
Pepys in his Diary, * Whenever ein}*' 
emolument, profit, salary or honour is 
conferred on any person not deserving 
it, that is a job ; if from private friend- 
ship, personal attachment, or any view 
except the interest of the public, any 
one is appointed to any public office — 
that is a job.* (Sheridan). 

Job, A bad (good) : an unfortunate 
(fortunate) event, business, etc. 
[Dictionary of Canting Crew (1700)] 

Job lot, A : a miscellaneous collection of 
articles. 

Job, As patient as : see Job (i). 

Job, As poor as : iu allusion to Job when 
deprived of all his wealth. [Gower 
{1390; T. Wilson, Art of Rhetorike, 
210 (1553)] 

Job’s comforter, A : one whose attempts 
at consolation only increase the 
distress. In allusion to the friends of 
Job in the biblical book to which he 
gave the name. 

Jobs’ news : bad news. From the story 
of Job. 

Job’s post : a bearer of bad news. 
[Job, i, 13-19] 

JoPs pound : a prison. 

Job’s turkey, As poor as : in allusion to 
Job in his period of extreme mis- 
fortime and a N. Amer.-Ind. prov^b 
which refers to the thinness of wild 
turkeys in periods of scarcity. An 
Americanism. 

Jockey of Norfolk : Sir John Howard 
(c. 1430-85), the first Duke of Norfolk 
of the Howard family. 

Joe^ A : a Joe Miller 

Joe M^ton, A : a fowling piece made 
by Joseph Manton, a London gun- 
smith. 

Joe Miller, A : a stale joke. From a 
jest-book attributed to the comedian 
Joseph Miller {1684-1738) and 
published after his death by John 
Mottley. This was for long the only 
printed collection of Eng. jokes extant. 

Joey, A : a groat. After Joseph Hume 
(1775-1855), member of Parliament, 
who strongly supported the use of the 
coin. 

John Audley there? Is: John Audley 
was a showman. This signal was 
given by the doorkeeper to bring the 
performance to a speedy conclusion 
in order that a second audience, 



[Jonathaa 


already waiting, may be provided 
for. 

7olui Barleycorn : see Barleycom. 

John Blunt : a plainspoken, frank man. 
John Boll: the t^ical Englishman. 
Ftoxn a character in John Arbuthnot, 
The History of John BuU (1713)- 
John Cheese : a down. [Ascham, The 
Schoolnuister, Bk. I (157®)] 

John : in the U.S. the generic 

term for a Chinaman, first adopted 
into general use at the time of the 
Ca^omian gold rush. 

John Company: the Honourable East 
India Company. Ftom Jan Kom- 
panie, by which name the Dutdi East 
India Company was known in the East. 
John Doe and Richard Doe: two 
fictitious names inserted in Eng. writs 
of ejectment prior to 1852. 

JohnDory, A : an edible sea-water fish. 

Fr,,jaune, ydlow, and dor^e, golden. 
John Diawlatoih : (1} a thief ; (2) an 
idler ; (3) a good-for-nothing. 
john-a-dreozDS : a stupid, person unable 
apparently to concentrate his mind. 
{Shakespeare, Hamlet II, ii (1602)] 
John Drum’s entertainment: see Jack 
Drum's entertainment. 

John Bool : see Jack FooL 
John 0 ’ Croats to Land’s End* From : 
from the extreme north of Scotland to 
the extreme south of l^gland. John 
of Groats and Land's End are the 
names of the extreme points. John 
o’ Groat was a Dutchman who se^ed 
in Scotland in the reign of James 
IV. 

John-hold-my-staff : asnbservient 
parasite. 

John Lo^ the oanier. To wait for : to 
wait a long time. [Jno. Heywood, 
Proverbes (I 54 ®)] 

Jbhn-a-napes, A : a Jack-a-napes. 
Jdui-arNo(a)ke 8 ^ A: a stupid, foolish 
rustic ; a fictitious name for a party 
in a legal action. [Histrio-masHx, IV, 
i. a. 77-9 <I6I0)] 

J(riin«a-nod8 : John-a-dreams 
Jdhn Roherts* A: a tankard holding 
sufficient liquor to last a man from 
Saturday to Monday. In allusion to 
John Roberts, M.P., at whose instance 
the Welsh Sunday Closing Act was 
adopted in 1886. 

John* Sir : a priest (contemptuously). 
John of Stiles raokes) : see John-a-Styles. 
and John-a-Koakes. 

John-apStyles : a fictitious name for a 
party in a legal action. 


John Tamson’s man : see John Thom- 
son's man. 

John Thomas, A : a fiunkey ; a liveried 
servant. 

John Thomson’s wian ; (Scot.) a mw 
ruled by his wife. Probably orig. 
Joan Thomson's man. 

John Trot: a country bumpkin; a 
stupid, uneducated person. 

John in the wad, A : a wiU-o'-tiie-wisp. 

Johnlan H6& A : a member of St. 
John's College, Cambridge. 

Johnny, A : a dude, esp. one who spends 
his time about stage doors. 

Johnny (hapand: a Frenchman. So- 
called by the Eng. seamen during the 
Napoleonic wars. Fr., crapaud, a 
toad, which appears in the emblem of 
France. 

Johnny Darby, A: a gendarme; a 
handcufi. 

Johnny Bewoome, A : a newborn child. 

Johnny Raw, A : a raw recruit in the 
army or elsewhere. 

Johnny Rebs : Confederate soldiers 
during the Amer. Civil War. So- 
cahed by their opponents. 

Jdhnsfcone^s tippet, SL : a halter. 

Joint account, To open a: togetmazried. 
[Thos. Morton, Toum and Country, 1 , 

Jcie (Fr., joy of Uving) : the 

physical pleasure derived from a 
feeling of good health. 

J611y,A : amarine. So-called by sailors. 
Beicause he is of as much use to a ship 
as the jolly-boat that floats behind 
her. 

JdDy god. The: Bac<dius, the god of 
wine. 

JoBy Roger, The : the black flag, the 
ensign of pirates. 

JoBy as a sandboy. As : an allusion to a 
sandboy, a very livdiy insect found in 
the sand of the sea^ore. 

Jonah, A: one who brings trouble to his 
associates who in s^-defence are com- 
pdled to discard him. In allusion to 
the biblical prophet. 

Jonathan, Brother : a nickname for the 
people of the XJB. From Jonatha n 
Trumbull, a confidant of George 
Washington, who frequently alluded to 
him as Brotiier Jonathan. 

Jonathan png David : see David and 
Jonathan. 

Jonathan H^ld : a highwayman or other 
CT iminfli of distinction. From the 
name of a famous Eng. criminal who 
was hanged at Tyburn in 1725. 



Jonathaii^s] 

Jonathan's, At : Jonathan's coffee-house 
in Change AJley was the predecessor 
of the London Stock Exchange. 

Jonathan’s arro^ : not intended to 
harm but only to give warning. 
[I Samuel, xx, 36] 

Joskins : see Spenlow and Jorkins. 

Josephs A : (i) a moral young man who 
resists temptation; from the sto^ 
narrated of the patriarch Joseph in 
Gen. xxxix, 7, et seq. ; (2) a long riding 
cloak worn by women. After the 
coat that Joseph left in the hands of 
Potiphar's wife. 

Joseph Surface* A: a hypocrite. In 
allusion to a character in R. B. Sheri- 
dan's play. The School for Scandal 

(1777)- 

J off h j To : to banter. After Josh 
Billings {i8rS-85), Amer. humourist. 
An Americanism. 

Jouin6e des Anes : the defeat of the 
Papal Army near Bologna, in 1571, by 
the Bolognese and the French. Lit., 
Battle of the asses, from the great 
number of pack animals captured. 

Jouvence^ The fooniain of : the source of 
youth or rejuvenation. A play upon 
the town of Jouvence, Sa6ne-et-Loire, 
France and Fr., jouvence, youth. 

Jove ! By : an asseveration. By 
Jupiter, a Rom. god. 

Jove’s bird (hotmd) : the eagle : con- 
secrated to Jupiter (Jove). 

Jove’s servant in ordinuy : the eagle. 

Joyeose science, The : minstrelsy. So- 
called by Sir Walter Scott in The 
TaUsman (1825). 

Judas, A: (i) a traitor, from Judas 
Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus (&rist ; 
(2) a lattice or other opening useful for 
espionage. 

Judu kisMt, A : an apparently friendly 
action that betrays. From the kiss by 
which Judas betrayed Jesus. 

Judas sli& (holes) : peepholes in a prison 
door. See Judas. 

Judas tree, A : a tree of the northern 
Mediterranean basin, Cercis sili^ 
quasirum, on which according to 
tradition Judas Iscariot hanged him- 
self; also the elder. 

Judas-oolouied hair; red hair. In 
allusion to fhe tradition that that was 
the colour of the hair of J udas Iscariot. 
The Eng, antipathy to red hair may, 
however, be due to hatred of the fair- 
haired Danes. 

Judicial murder : an unjust, though legal, 
sentence of death. 


206 [Jupiter 

Judicious bottle-holder. The : Lord 
Palmerston (1784-1865), who, in 1851, 
said to a deputation that waited on him 
to congratulate him on the success of 
his edorts to secure the liberation of 
Kossuth, that the crisis had required 
much generalship and a good deal of 
judicious bottle-holding. A bottle- 
holder is an attendant on a pugilist 
at a pri2e-fight. 

Judicious Hooker, The : Richard Hooker 
(1553-1600), Eng. divine. 

Juge de paiz, A {Fr., a justice of the 
peace) : a cudgel. 

Juggemaul; A : that whidi or he who 
crushes whatever lies in his path. 
From the name of a Hindoo god, 
Jagannaiha, Lord of the World, whose 
great car is dragged along the roads on 
riie occasion of his festival by his 
worshippers. The mistaken idea was 
formerly held that on these occasions 
many of the worshippers in a r^gious 
frenzy cast themsAves under the 
wheels of the car. 

Juggins, A : a foolish fellow. From one 
of that name who squandered a fortune 
in betting about 1687. 

Julian year : the year according to the 
calendar instituted by Julius Caesar 
and in force until the introduction of 
that of Gr^ory XIII. 

Jumbo, A : an elephant. From the 
name of a very large elephant exhibited 
in London about 1883. 

Jump over ihe bxoomsrid; (two sticks). 
To : to marry in an unconventional 
manner. 

Jump land (a claim). To : (Amer.) to 
take possession of .. by unlawful 
means. 

Jumping ca^ Cult of the : opportunism ; 
decision in favour of the winning 
side. 

June : the sixth month of the year, the 
month of the Rom. family of Junius. 

June, The glorious first of : the victory 
of the British heet under Lord Howe 
over the French on June ist, 1794. 

Jxmker, A (Germ., Jung Herr, young 
master) : an exiieme reactionary in 
politics. In allusion to the Junker 
or extreme conservative party in 
Germany which consists mainly of the 
land-owning classes. 

Juno’s {Junonian} biid; a peacock. 
Sacred to the goddess, Juno. 

Junto, Bssez : see Essex. 

Jupiter Scapin : Napoleon I. So-called 
by the Abb6 de Pradt. Scapin was a 



Jupiter] 

valet in Moli^re, Les Pourberies de 
Scapin, 

Jupiter’s bird : the eagle. 

Jupiter’s fools : women. 

Jurisprudence, The Father of : see Father. 

Jus £vinum : (Lot., divine right). 

Jus gentium {Lat., law of nations) : 
international law. [Hooper, Early 
Writings (1548)] 

Jusgu’auboutiste, A [Ft., jusqu au 
bout, to the endl : a whole-hogger; one 
who is determined to pursue his object 
to the very end. The word came into 
use in the course of the European War 
of 1914-18, and was used to designate 
the advocates of the continuamce of 
the war until the complete defeat of 
Germany. 

Juste milieu, Le (Fr., the proper mean) : 
phrase used by Louis Philippe to 
express his policy shortly aifcer his 
accession to the throne of France. 
The phrase was not original, having 
previously been used by Pascal in his 
Pensies and by Voltaire in a letter to 
the Comte d^Argental. 

Justice, Poetic : see Poetic justice. 

Justinian, A : a renowned lawyer and 
jurist. In allusion to the Emperor 
Justinian (483-565), famous for his 
codification of the Laws of Rome. 

Justinian, The English : Edward I (1239- 
1 307) . S o-called by Edward J enks, in 
the title of a book (1902). 

Justitia,ruat coeluni,!l^t {Lat,, Let justice 
be done even though the heavens 
fall) : do justice heedless of the conse- 
quences. A passage in the judgment 
of Lord IMansfield (1705-93) in the 
case of John Wilkes (1768). Similar 
phrases appear in the writings of 
Martin Luther (1483-1546), the Emp. 
Ferdinand I (1503-64), and Comeifle 
(1625-1709). 

Juteopolis : Dundee, the centre of the 
jute industry. 

Juvenal, The English ; John Oldham 
(1653-83). After JuvQial (60-140), 
Rom. satirist and poet. 

Juvenal of Painters, The : William 
Hogarth (1697-1764). 

Juvenal, The Young: Thomas Lodge 
(1555-1625). So-called by Rob^ 
Greene. 

J’y sui^ i’y reste {Fr,, I am here, I 
remain here) : the reply of the Marshal 
MacMahon when warned after the, 
capture of the Malakofi (Sept. 9, 1855), 
that the evacuated fortress was 
probably mined. 


207 [Kentish 

K’s, The Three : the King, the Church 
and the Constitution. 

Eabhala: see Cabbala. 

Kail thro’ the rede. To give a person the : 
(Scot.), to behave unpleasantly to a 
person ; to abuse him violently. Kale 
(cabbage) becomes bitter when smoked. 
E[Q^ard (School), The (Scot,, cabbage- 
garden school) : the Scot, dialect 
school of fiction dealing with home life. 
The principal members were Sir J. M. 
Barrie, Ian MacLaren and S. R. 
Crockett. 

Kaiser Klas : a Germ, name for 
Napoleon I. 

Kalends : see Greek Calends. 

Kangaroo Closure, The : a system of 
closure in the House of Commons under 
which the Speaker is authorized to 
select amendments for discussion, 
Kansas, Bleeding : see Bleeding. 

Karun, The riches of : in allusion to 
Kanin, the uncle of Moses, according 
to the Koran. 

Katerfelto, A : a charlatan. In allusion 
to a quack doctor and pseudo-scientist 
of that name who practised in London 
about the year 1782. 

Kathay : see Cathay. 

Kedar’s tents, la : in this world as 
opposed to the next. Kedar is 
Axabia Deserta. 

Keen as a hawk. As : eager ; mentally 
acute. [Peter Pindar, Ode upon Ode 

(1785)] 

Keen as mustard. As : mentally energetic. 
Keep, To : (Camb. Univ.l to live. In 
general use in this sense in the i6th 
and 17th cents. [Pol, Poefns, II, 65 
(1401^] 

Keep one’s powder dry. To ; to be pre- 

pared for eventualities. A military 
metaphor. 

Kemp ; Kempery man, A : a soldier ; 
a champion. 

Keudal green : cloth worn by foresters, 
made at Kendal. 

E^ennedy, A : a poker. In allusion to a 
man who was killed with a poker. 

Kent, Men of : those who come from 
Kent east of the Medway. See Kentish. 
Kent Street ejectment, A : ejectment for 
non-payment of rent by means of the 
remov^ of the front door. Practised 
formerly by landlords in Kent Street, 
Southwark. 

Kentish fire : concerted clapping of 
hands and stamping of feet, spaced like 
a sort of Morse Code and sounding like 
the discharge of musketry-. In allusion 



Kttlidi] 3oS [Eidderiiiiium 


to the reception given to * No Popery ' 
oratois in Kent in 1828-9. The term 
was coined by the Karl of Winchelsea 
at an * Oz^ge ’ meeting hdd in 
Dublin in 1834. 

men : those who come from 
West Kent. Sbb Men of Kent. 

EeQiecidIc’s pie^ As Mg as: Ketheiick 
was the first mayor of Plymouth I 
(1493). The pie made for his inaugural 
banquet is said to have been 14 ft. • 
long. ' 

EMile offish, A pretty : sm Fish. 

Key of Ghiisiendom, The: Buda in 
Hungary. In fusion to its position 
as a bulwark against the Turkish 
invasion. 

benoath the door. To leave the : to 
vacate a house without paying rent. 
(Jno, Taylor, Discovery by Sea from 
London to Salisbury (2623)] 

Eey offheCNilf,Xh6 ; Cuba. On account 
of its positioii at the entrance to the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

Eey of India, !Hie : Herat in Afghanistan. 

Eey of the Meditenanean, The : 
Gibraltar, which commands the 
entrance thereto. 

Eey of Bnsaia, The : Smolensk. 

E^ of Spain, The : Ciudad Bodrigo. 

Key of the street To get the : ironically, 
to be shut out. 

upon one’s shoulder, To have the : 
to be in authority. In allusion to the 
period when keys which were instru- 
ments of considerable size, were carried 
by the steward over the shoulder. 

Says of Knowledge^ The: thetimeofthe 
Day of Judgment, the time of rain, 
the sex of an animal before birth, the 
events of to-morrow, the place of one's 
death, all hidden from man; according 
to the Koran. 

Skys into the pit, To throw the : to 
disclaim a debt, esp. that of a deceased 
husband. Fiom an ancient Fr, custom 
in which, where the estate left was in- 
sufficient to pay the debts, the widow 
cast a key into the mve. 

Em Xhe power of the : authority of 
the ministry iu Christian chui^es 
over laym«i. From the promise of 
Christ to Peter to give him * the keys 
of the Kingdom of Heaven., [Maithow, 
acvi, 9] 

Eeystcme State, The: Penxi^Ivania; 
the central one of the 13 origiiml states 
of the XJnionr 

Eibes, To gall (tread) on one’s ; to annoy 
or irritate. A kibe is a chilblain. 


Elbes of . . To tread (foUow) on the : to 
fc^ow closely on the heels of .. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, V, x, 153 
(1602)] 

Elbosh cm it. To put the : (coUoq.) to 

dispose of permanently. 

Stok against To : to rebel against. 
[Wydifi'e, Deuiero}iomy, xsodi, 15] 

KLdk against the pzioke* To : to resent 
treatment to one's own harm or dis- 
comfort ; as a horse resents the prick 
of the spur. [Acts, ix, 5 and xxvi, 14 ; 
Pindar, 2 Pythian Victories, V, 173 ; 
.Sschylus, Agamemnon, 1624 ; 
Kuripedes, Bacchae, 791 ; Terence, 
Phormio, I, ii, 27 ; Ovid, Tristia, II, 
15; Jno. He]^ood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Eiok the beam. To : to be outweighed. 
The beam the balance in a pair of 
scales. 

Sick the bucket To : (coUoq.) to die. 
Ftom a manner of committing suicide, 
viz,, to kick away the supporting 
bucket after having adjusted a rope 
around one's neck, or from the bucket 
or beam by which dead pigs are 
suspended in the butcher-shop. 

Sick downstairg. To : to eject from the 
house. 

Sick one’s heeig, To : see Heels. 

Eiok up one’s heels. To; to die. 
[Dekker, Honest Whore (1604)] 

Sidk down the ladder. To : to make use 
of people to enable oneself to rise in 
the world and then to ignore them. 

Eiok np a row. To : to create a disturb- 
ance. A suggestion that noise can be 
kicked np like dzist. [Tobias Smollett, 
Letter to Wilkes (1759)] 

over the traces. To : togetfieefrom 
restraints ; as a horse getting its leg 
over the traces is able to kick more 
freely. 

Eiflked upstairs. To be : to be promoted 
from a responsible position to a 
sinecure. 

Kicks than hal^ence^ Store : more pain 
than pleasure. 

&i(ksbaws [Fr,, quelque chose, some- 
thing): trines, genen^y elegant. Orig. 
a fancy dish in cookery. [Shakes- 
peare, 2 Henry IV, V, i (1597-8)] 

wd, CMptain : a pirate. Capt. James 
Kidd (b. in Scotland ; hanged 1701) 
was sent by the Amer. colonists to 
suppress piracy, but himself turned 
pirate. 

ffiUenninsteir poetry: rough, inferior 
verse, like the woollen manufactures 
of Kidderminster. Phrase coined by 



209 


Sidney] ' 


Wm. Shenstone. In allusion to a 
Mr. C. of Kidderminster. 

Kidney. Of the same : of the same nature 
or ^position. From the belief that 
the kidneys were the seat of the 
afiections. [Shakespeare, Merry 
Wives of Windsor, III, v (159S-9)] 

TTiTirflnny oats, To fight hke : to hght to 
the point of mutual destruction. The 
story is told of some Hessian troops 
employed to suppress the Irish 
Rebellion of 1798 who when stationed 
at Balkenny, amused themselves by 
tying the tails of two cats together 
and hanging them over a line there to 
fight with one another. The sport was 
interrupted by an officer who ordered 
the cats to be released. This order 
was carried out by cutting the cats 
free of their tails, which were left 
hanging on the line. When the officer 
returned and enquired the fate of the 
cats, he was told that they had 
devoured one another. 

ESUabeeiTotakeapostio: sesTake. 
Eill two birds with one stone. To : see 
Birds. 

mu the goose that lays the golden eggs, 

Xo : see Goose. 

ElU by inches, To : to kiU slowly. In 
to the several m^eval 
methods of torture, long drawn-out 
and ending in death. 

inn one’s munSuTiti, Xo : see Mandarin. 

nrni tinift, Xo : to waete time. [V an- 
brugh and Cibber, The Provoked 
Husband, I, i (ryaS)] 

SULogie, Smoked like a (Scot ,) : the 
killogie is the covered place in front 
of the freplace of a kiln. 

EUmainham l^ty. The : the agreement 
between Wm. Ewart Glauistone and 
Charles Stewart Parnell in accordance 
with which the latter was released 
from Kilmainham gaol in May, 1882. 

EUmamook cowls : nightcaps. After 
those manufactured at Kilmarnock. 

KIndhe&ztk A : a dentist. After the 
nam e of a member of that profession 
who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth. 

inttg at Arms : one of the three Eng. 
chief heralds. 

inttg of Bad; The : Christopher III of 
Scandinavia, who in time of famine 
had bark mixed with the bread. 

Elng of Bath, The : Richard Nash (Beau 
Nash) (1674-1762), who was for over 
half a century Master of the Cere- 
monies at Bath, then a fashionable 
resort. 


iThig of the Bean, The : the Twelfth 
Night Kiug. In allusion to the bean 
in the Twelfth Night cake which 
decided the office. 

Sng of beasts. The : the lion. 

B3ng of the beggars. The: Bamfylde 
Moore Carew (1693-1770 c.), also 
King of the gypsies. 

Bing of birds. The : the eagle. 

Tffag Charles’ Head : a monomania. 
After the topic which entered into every 
conversation of the slightly insane 
Dick in Dickens, David Copperfield 
(1849). 

iniig C fhftrtflg spaniel : a small species of 
dog, a favourite of King Charles I of 
England. 

King of the Cockneys, The : see Cockney’s. 

TTiTig Cotton : cotton, the staple produc- 
tion of the southern of the United 
States and manufacture of Lancashire. 
Phrase first used by James H. 
Hammond in the U.S. Senate in 1858. 
Three years previously David Christy 
published Cotton is King; or. Slavery 
in the Light of Politiced Economy. 

Kuig of Daflcey : a burlesque king. 
Dalkey is a small island south of 
Dublin Bay. 

Bing is dead, long live the B3ng, The : 
the formula that expresses the theory 
that a throne is never vacant. It was 
the official formula for announcing a 
change in the occupancy of the Fr. 
throne from 1461 to 1824. See King 
never dies. The. 

King Demos : see Demos. 

TTfag never dies. The : the theory that 
the throne is never vacant, that at the 
moment of the death of the occupant 
his successor becomes king. 

TTing of dnlness. The : CoUey Cibber 
(1671-1757), poet laureate. 

King, The l^ctoiy : Richard Oastler 
(1789-1861), advocate of the Ten 
Hours Factory Law. 

Wing of the forest. The : the oak. 

THug of fcedi-watei fish. The: the 
salmon. So-called by Izaak Walton. 

King of the jangle. The : the tiger. 

King of Kiigs, The: (x) God; (2) 
Jesus ; (3) Agamemnon, in Grk. 

legend, the most powerful ruler of 
Greece ; (4) Artaxcrxes (465-425 

B.C.), King of Persia. 

KiTig Log and King Stoik : a king who 
is unable to exercise power and one 
who oppresses his subjects. From the 
fehle of The Frogs Desiring a King. 
First Jupiter gave them a log and they 



Kingmaker] 

were dissatisfied because it showed no 
strength or other kingly quality. Then 
he sent them a stork which ate them 
up. 

Kingmaker, The ! Richard Neville, Earl 
of Warwick (1428-71). From his 
influence in securing the accession of 
Edward IV and the restoration of 
Henry VI. 

TTing of Sen, The : Agamemnon, king 
of Mycen©; also Jupiter. 

King of metals. The : gold. 

King Sob : the powerful crowd. 

King of Painters, The : Parrhasios 
(fl. 400 B.C.). 

Ring P6taud : a king whose subjects 
are his equals, after the name of the 
‘ king ' of a company of Fr. beggars. 

Ring Pdtand, The Court of : the board of 
a company, or a committee, whose 
members take little notice of the 
rulings of the chairman. See King 
Petaud. 

Rmg of Preachers, The ; Louis Bour- 
daloue (1632-1704), Fr. divine, 

TTiTig of Frnssia, The : see Roi de Prusse. 

TTing j The Railway : George Hudson 
(1800-71), promoter of railways. So- 
called by Sydney Smith. 

Exag of Reptiles, Ihe : Germain Etienne 
de la Ville, Count Lac^pede (1756- 
1825), author of Histoire Xaturelle des 
Reptiles, 

King of Roads, The: John Loudon 
l\iacadam (i 756-1 S36), inventor of an 
improved process of making roads. 

Ring , Sore royalist than the: see 
Royalist. 

King of the sea. The : the herring. 

King of shadows. The: Oberon, the 
king of the fairies. 

King of shreds and patches. A: a 
literary hack writer. Orig., in the 
old mystery plays. Vice. 

S3ng, The Snow : Gustavus Adolphus of 
Sweden, who, according to the 
Viennese, melted away, or lost his 
power, as he came south. 

Ei^ of Spain’s trumpeter. The : a 
donkey. A pun on the Span, title 
don. 

King Stork and King Log: see King 
I^g and King Stork. 

King of Terrors, The : death. 

Ring over the water. The : (1) James II, 
after his deposition and escape to 
France; {2) James Stuart, the Old 
Pretender ; (3) Charles Edward 

Stuart, the Young Pretender. 

Kin g of waters, The : the river Amazon. 


3 [King’s 

Ring of Wisdom, The : Omar Khayydm 
(nth and 12th cents.), Persian poet 
and astronomer, famous for his 
Rubaiyat, 

King, (fee Wise : Solomon, king of 
Israel. In allusion to the divine gift 
of wisdom conferred on him. 

Ring of the world, The : the Roman 
Emperor. 

King of Yvetot, The : (i) the long or 
reign of a happy people, from a song 
by Pierre Jean de B6ranger (1813), 
popular throughout France among the 
people who had tired of military glory 
and its cost and were longing for peace 
and contentment ; (2) a man of great 
pretensions but small merits. In 
allusion to the tiny kmgdom of 
Yvetot, near Rouen, which flourished 
from the 6th until the 14th cent. 

Bflngs, The hooks (history) of four : a pack 
of cards. 

Rin gs of Brentford : see Brentford. 

B^g’s candle, Gay as the : (of a showily 
dressed woman). From the French in 
allusion to the Eve or Vigil of the 
Kings, observed on the 6th of January 
by burning a candle of divers colours. 

Bong’s Champion, The : the offlcial who 
challenges all opponents at the Coro- 
nation Banquet. 

Kings (of Cologne), The Three : the three 
wise men of the East who visited the 
Infant Jesus. Reputed to have been 
buried at Cologne. 

Kings, Divine right of : see Divine. 

King’s Rn glish, fee : correct, pure 
English. [Shakespeare, Merry Wives 
of Windsor, I, iv (1598)] 

Bong’s evidence. To torn : for a criminal 
to give evidence, under promise of 
pardon, against his accomplices. 

BSng’s fee : scrofula ; supposed to 
be curable by the touch of a king. 

King’s Friends (Men), The : royalists ; 
partisans of the king. 

Kings, The game of : chess. 

Bong’s Hwovezian White Horse, The : 
the 8th Regt. of Foot, now the Liver- 
pool Regt. In allusion to its services 
against the Old Pretender. Their 
badge was a white horse. 

King’s hisdiway. The : the public roads. 
Formerly only those highways which 
were under the protection of the 
king. 

King’s Men, The : (x) the 78th Regt. of 
Foot; after their motto, C%i%dich*r 
Rhi, Help the King ,* (2) King*s 

friends iq.v.). 



211 


Sng’s] 


[S^dkerliodceni 


King’s Oto Men* The : the 78th Hegt. 
of Foot, whose motto was (Gaelic) 
Cuidich*r Rhi, Help the King. 

Sng’s Shilling, The : the coin formerly 
given to a recruit, as a ratification of 
his implied engagement to enlist in 
the British army. 

Sing’s three earflinal errors, A : pity, 
placability and clemency. [Thucy- 
dides, History, III, 40, 2] 

Siagdom Come : (coUoq.) the next 
world. From the phrase * Thy king- 
dom come,* in The Lord*s Prayer, 

Sngdom, The Most Ohristiaa : see 
Most Christian. 

mn g a , The sPort of : see Sport. 

Zingslay’s Stand : the 20th Re^. of 
Foot, now the Lancashire Fusiliers. 
After the xiame of their colonel when 
they made their famous * stand * at 
Minden in 1759. 

Kingston Bridge : a bent card. So as 
to guide him who cuts the pack. 

ESngswood lions: donkeys. After the 
large number of them kept by the 
miners at ICingswood. 

Kidce’s Lambs: the forces of Colonel Bjrke, 
which were put in command of the 
West of England after the suppression 
of Monmouth's Kebdlion and became 
notorious for their cruelties. The 
badge of the regiment was a Paschal 
lamb, in allusion to the purpose for 
which they were first recruited, vis., 
to fight the ix^el in Morocco. 

book. To : to give evidence in a 
court of law. after having taken the 
oath and kissed the Bible. [Early 
x6th cent.] 

irifBi the ooimter. To : to be confined in 
the stocks. From ‘ counter,* formerly 
* compter,' the prison attached to a 
mayors court. [Rowland, NigfU 
Raven (1620)] 

glia the cop. To : to drink. [Early 
15th cent]. 

ingg the dust. To ; to be defeated ; to be 
humiliated. 

iRmi the ground. To : to cast oneself to 
the ground as an act of reverence ; to 
be humiHated. 

S3sb the gunner’s dauiditer* To : (naval 
slang) to be lashed to a gun prepara- 
tory to receiving punishment. 

giM fiftTida, To : to be endowed with 
high government ofEice, by the 
sovereign whose hand is kissed on the 
occasion of the transfer of the seals of 
office. 

giM the haze’s foot. To : see Hare's foot. 


ESssof peace* The : a kiss given as a sign 
of friendliness, esp. as a token of 
Christian love in the course of a 
religious service. 

IRgg the post. To : to be shut out. 
[Barclay, Eclogues (1515)] 

TRag the rod. To : to accept punishment 
submissively. [Sir I^ip Sidney, 
Arcadia, II, 190 (1590)] 

WggiTig comfits : scented sweets, to 
perfume the breath. 

Eli Callot : see Callot. 

Eit-cat Club, The : a political dub. 
Formed in 1703 to uphold the 
principles of the Revolntion of 1688. 
It met at a tavern kept by Christopher 
Cat (d. 1773). 

ELt-cat size : three-quarter length 
portraits on canvas, 29 in. by 36 in., 
adopted by Sir G^ftey Eneller in 
painting portraits of members of the 
Kit-cat Club {q.v,). 

Eit-cats : mutton pies. After a dish for 
which Christopher Cat's tavern was 
renowned. See Kit-cat Club. 

lEfit^en Chibinet, The : the intimate 
political drde of Andrew ;[ackson 
during his term of office as President of 
the U.S. (1829-33). 

Eltchen fee : dripj^g. Supposed to be 
the perquisite of the cook. 

Bltohen love : afiection displayed in the 
expectation of favours, esp. food. 

glttlA Oazgo^ A : dergymen. A nautical 


phrase. 

Enfle cattle to dioe : a difficult person 
to manage. 

Suave of hearts, A : a flirt. 

Shave of Sologneb A : one who is more 
knave than fool. Sologne forms part 
of the Departments of Lcdret and 
Loire-et-Cher. 

Snee to .. To bow (bend) the: to 
submit to . . 

Knee to • • To give the : to pay homage 
to . . [Bacon, Henry VII (1622)] 

Knee tribute : adoration or reverence 
displayed by bending the knee. 
[Milton, Paradise Lost, V, 782 
(1667)] 

Knees df the gods, On the : in the future; 
b^ond human control. [Homer, 
Odyssey, I, 267] 

Bhickerbocker Gi^, The: New York. 
From the dress of the early Butch 
settlers. 


Kiickerboekeacs : loose trousers ending 
at the knees, as worn in Holland, etc. 
After Diedridi Knickerbocker, pseu- 
donymous author of Washington 



EoifB] 3X2 [Koidit 


Irving’s History of Kew York, taken as 
the l^cal Dutchman. 

EnifSa is. Aoademio Bjiotg» The : 
Chiysippos (280-207 B.C.), the 

keenest disputant of his age. 

Ehife at the uiroai; of - . To hold a : to 
exercise compulsion towards .. 

E^nife, War to the : relentless warfare. 
Palafox’s answer to the French general 
at the siege of Saragossa. 

Enifeiboard, The : the double-seat on the 
top of an old horse-omnibus, 

Enighti An ale : see Ale knight. 

Knight baehelory A : orig. a l^ht who 
had forsworn marriage until he had 
performed some feat of outstanding 
valour; a knight attadied to no 
order. 

Sni^t Bannereii A ; a kni^t created 
on the battlehdd, to whom a streamer 
has-Bly tom from a banner was given 
as ensignia of investiture. 

Knight of the bladOi A : a bully. In 
allusion to his fr^uent reference to 
his sword in the days in which it was 
fa^onable to wear that weapon. 

Knight of the bru^ A : an artist. 

Enight of the hnixiing pestle. The : a 
mock heroic play by Beaumont and 
Fletcher (X613). 

Eoighti A carpn: a civilian knight; 
one who has not earned the honour on 
the battlefield. [Michael de Montaigne, 
Works, Bk. I, diap. xsv; Guillaume 
de SaUuste du Bartas, Divine Weehes 
and Workes, 2nd week, 3rd day, Pt. 1 ; 
Geo. Whetstone, Remembrance of 
George Gascoigne, st. 9 (i 577 )- ' Carpet 
knights are &e men who are by the 
prince’s grace and fiivour made 
knights at home .. They are called 
car^ knights because they receive 
theSr honours in the court and upon 
carpets.* Francis Markham, Booke of 
Honour (1626)] 

Ejoitditoftheoaim A: a knight created 
on Shrove Tuesday, when the recipient 
of the honour kndt on a carpet ti^ore 
the king. See also Knight, A car- 
pet. 

Emght of oarpetry. A : see Knight, A 
carpet. 

Enight of the dhamber. A: a knight 
created in time of peace in the 
audience dbamber instead of the 
battiefidd. 

Enight of the deaver. A : a butcher. 

Kxdght of the cloak. The : Sir Walter 
Raleigh. In allusion to the incident 
of bis cloak and Queen Elizabeth. 


Shighi of the eoUar, A : one who has 
been hanged. [Youth in Dodsley. 
Old Plays (1554}] 

Enight of the cue, A : a billiard-player. 

Enight of the dice-box, A : a gambler. 

Enight of tilie elbow. A: a cheating 
gambler. 

Enight enani, A : a knight who 
wandered abroad in search of 
adventure. 

Enight of the field, A : a tramp. 

Enight of the fodnd order (order of the 
fodc), A : a gardener ; a cuckold. 

Knight of the grammar, A : a school- 
master. 

Enight of the green doth, A : a carpet 
knight (<?.v.). ; a gambler. 

Kziightofthehandeaif,A: a policeman. 

Enight of industry, A (Fr., Chevalier 
d* Industrie) : a swindler. 

Ehldit of the knife, A : a pickpocket ; 
a cutpurse. [Ben Jonson, Bartholo- 
mew Fayre (1614)] 

Enight or a knitter of caps, To be either 
a : to be as happy as a prince or as 
wretched as a moumer. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580)] 

Enight of La Mancha, The: Don 
Quixote de la Mancha. 

Enight of the needle, A ; a tailor. 

Enight of the pen, A : a writer ; a dark. 

Enight of the pendl, A : a betting man. 
In allusion to his frequent use of a 
pencil. 

Eoight of the pestle, A : an apothecary. 

Enid^t of the post, A : a false witness, 
who when discovered was whipped at 
the post. [Nashe, Pierce Pennilesse 
(1592)] 

Eni^t of the quill, A : a writer. 

Enight of the rainbow. A: a male 
domestic servant. In allusion to his 
gorgeous uniform. 

Enight of the road, Asa highwayman. 
A pun on the knights of Rhodes. 
[R. Head, English Rogue (1671)] 

Enight of the mefoi coonte^ea, The : 
Don Quixote. So-called by Sancho 
Panza. 

Enic^t of fit. Crispin, A : a shoemaker. 
After St. Crispin, who was a cobbler. 

Enldit (Cdeik) of Si Nidholas, A : a thief. 
St. Nicholas was patron saint of 
thieves. [Rowley, Match at Midnight 

{1633)] 

Ehight of the diears, A : a tailor. A 
pun on knight of the shire. 

Enight of the shire, A : a representative 
of a county or shire in Parliament. 
Orig. a knight.- 



Knight] 213 

Knight of the spigot, A : a publican. 

Knight of the spur, A : a Knight 
Bachelor. 

Knight of the stick, A : a compositor. 

In allusion to the stick used by him 
in setting type. 

Knight of the tar-brush, A : a sailor. 

Knight of the thimble, A : a tailor. 

Knight of the Thistle, A : a member of a 
Scot, order of Imighthood, said to 
have been ins. in 809, revived in 1540. 

Knight of the vapour, A : a smoker. 

Knight of the wheel, A : a cyclist. 

Knight of the whip, A : a coachman. 

Knight of the yardstick, A : (Amer.) a 
draper’s assistant. 

Knights, To dine with the cross-legged : 

see Dine. 

Benights of Labour : one of the principal 
Amer. Trade Unions, founded in 1869. 

Knight’s service : good service ; service 
due from a knight under the Feudal 
System. 

Knipper-doling, A : a religious fanatic. 
From Bernhard KnipperdolUng 
(c. 1490-1536), Germ. Anabaptist 

leader and martyr. 

Knock out. To : to put a person hors de 
combat or unable to continue the 
contest. Prize-ring metaphor. 

Ejiock under, To : to submit ; admit 
oneself beaten. Properly, to knock 
under board, to fall under the table 
in a drinking bout. 

Emock the bottom out of . . To : to 
deprive an argument or case of its 
basis. 

Knock into a cocked hat. To : to beat out I 
of recognition. | 

Knock on the head. To : to bring to | 
naught. [W. Fulke, Heskin's Parlia- i 
ment Repealed, 327 (1579)] 

Knock one’s head against, To : to be 
stopped in one’s course by inconvenient 
facts or conditions. [i6th cent.] 

Knock under. To : to submit. Possibly 
from to knuckle under (q.v.). 

Knockabout man, A : (z) (Austral.) a 
handy man, a labourer ready to turn 
his hand to anything ; (2) (theatrical) 
an actor who plays a noisy, boisterous 
part. 

Knockout, A : a conspiracy among 1 
frequenters of auction sales, not to j 
bid against one another in public, but | 
to share among themselves the i 
difference between the sale price and \ 
the real value of the article. \ 

Knot, To cut the : see Gordian. 

Knot in a rush. To se^ for a : to seek for 


[Kulturkampf 

difficulties gratuitously. [Terence, 
Andria, V, iv, 38 (166 B.C.) ; Ayenbite 
of Inwyte (1340)] 

Knot, To tie the ; to perform the 
ceremony of marriage. [Thos, May, 
The Old Couple, V, 1 . 167 (1655)] 

Bjiotty point, A : a matter involved in 
intellectual difficulties. [Pope, Jamiafy 
and May, 140 (1702)] 

Know, In the : (colloq.) possessed of 
information not yet public property. 

Know a thing or two. To : to be wide- 
awake; to be fully acquainted with 
what is transpiring. 

Know the ropes, To : to be well ac- 
quainted with the conditions, circum- 
stances, etc. Nautical metaphor. 
Know which side one’s bread is buttered. 
To : to recognise where one’s interests 
lie. 

Know-nothings : an Amer. political 
party founded in 1853. Its principal 
plank was the requirement of 21 years' 
residence as a qualification for natural- 
isation. See American Party. The 
programme of the party was for a time 
secret and the members denied all 
knowledge of it. Hence the name. 

Knuckle under. To : to submit. Knuckle 
formerly meant to kneel. To knuckle 
under consequently means to kneel 
under. 

Koepenick, A Captain of : am amusing 
rogue. After a swindler who, 
masquerading as a military officer, 
assured the municipal authorities of 
Koepenick (Germany) of his bona 
fides and was thus able to rifle the 
local treasury. 

Koh-i-Noor, A : something of very 
great value. After the name of a very 
valuable and large diamond included 
in the British Crown jewels. 

Kolis, The : the King's Own Light 
Infantry. From the initial letters. 

Koran of Belfast, The : Paine’s ‘ Rights 
of Man,' according to Wolf Tone. 

Kriss Kringle {Germ., Christ Kindel, the 
Christ child) : a young Santa Claus. 

Ku Kluz Klan : an organisation formed 
in the Southern States after the 
conclusion of the Civil War for the 
intimidation of the coloured population. 

Kulturkampf, The : the struggle in 
Germany between the state and the 
Roman Catholic Church (1872-82). 
Lit., Culture-conflict. The phrase w<is 
popularized by Rudolph Virchow, the 
scientist and politician (1821-1902), 
who said that the contest was not 



L’s] 

merely a religious one, but involved 
man's entire intellectual and moral 
culture. It was coined by Ferdinand 
Lassalle (1825-64) in Demokraiische 
Stndien^ II, 505, 

L’s, The Three : (nautical) lead, latitude 
and look out. Term invented by j 
W. Clark Russell. 

Laberins, A Second : after Decimus 
Laberius (c. 105-43 B.C.), Rom, satirist. 

Labour of love, A : work undertaken not 
for reward but for pleasure. 

Labours of Hercules, The : (i) wrestling 
with the Nemean lion ; (2) destruction 
of the Lemean hydra ; (3) capture of 
the Arcadian hind ; (4) capture of the 
boar of Er3rmanthus ; (5) cleansing of ; 
the Augean stables ; (6) shooting of i 
the Stymphalian birds ; (7) capture of 
the Cretan bull ; (8) capture of the 
man-eating mares of the Thracian 
Diomedes ; (9) seizure of the girdle of 
Hippolyte; (10) leading of the oxen 
of Geryones from Ei^hia ; (ii) i 
bringing of the golden apples from j 
the garden of the Hesperides ; (12) | 
carr3ring Cerberus from Hades to the 1 
Upper World. i 

Labyrinth, A : a maze ; a complicated, 1 
tortuous condition of affairs. After t 
Labyris, an Egyptian king of the 12th j 
dynasty. i 

Lacedcemonians, The ; the Duke of Com- 
wairs Light Infantry. Because while 
under heavy fire in 1777 they were 
addressed by their colonel on the 
virtues of Spartan discipline. 

Laek-Latin, A : an uneducated person ; 
one who lacks Latin. [Sir F, Bygod, 
Treatise Coyiceming Impropnations, 

VI (1534)] 

Iiack'leainiBg Parliament, The : see 

Parliament. 

Laconic ; Laconian : concise ; sparing 
in words. From Grk., Lakon, a 
Lacedaemonian, proverbial for the 
affectation of brevity. 

Lad o’ wax, A : a sho^aker. 

Ladder behind one’s back. To kick down 
the : to disown friends of whom one 
no longer has need. [Shakespeare, 
Julius Ccesar, II, i (1601)] 

Ladder, To dimb up the : to advance 
socially or officially. 

Ladder ^ter oneself. To draw up the : 
to make oneself impossible of approach 
by others. 

Ladder, To see through a : to discover 
the obvious. 


^14 [Lake 

Ladies’ man* A : a man who pays much 
attention to the female sex. 

Lady of Babylon, The: the Roman 
Catholic Church. In allusion to the 
scarlet woman of Revelations. 

Lady Bell : the bell used in ringing the 
Angelus. 

Lady Bountiful, A : the generous and 
charitable lady of the \nllage. After 
the name of a character in Farquhar, 
Beaux Stratagem (1707). 

Lady of the broom, A : a housemaid. 
[Peter Pindar, The Diamond Pin 
(1794-1801)] 

Lady chair, A : a seat formed of the 
crossed hands of two people facing one 
another. 

Lady Chapel, A : a chapel in a church 
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 

Lady Day : the 25th of March, the day 
of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. 
Lady of easy virtue, A : a prostitute. 
Lady of tiie frying-pan, A : a cook. 

Lady Huntingdon persuasion. Of the : 
of the sect of Civinistic Methodists 
founded by Selina, Lady Huntingdon, 
in 1779. 

Lady of Kingdoms, The : Babylon. 
{Isaiah, xlvii] 

Lady of the l^e, A : a n\Tiiph ; a kept 
mistress. From Vivien, the mistress 
of Merlin. 

Lady Nicotine, My : see My. 

Lady of pleasure, A : a prostitute. 

Lady of Rome, The : the Roman Catholic 
Church. In allusion to the scarlet 
woman of Revelations. 

Lady-killer, A : a man possessing much 
influence over women. 

Laetare Sunday : the fourth Sunday in 
Lent. After the first word of the 
Introit of that day. 

Lafontaine, The Danish : Hans Christian 
Andersen (1805-75). After Jean de 
Lafontaine, a Fr. fabulist who lived 
from 1621 to 1695. 

Lafontaine of the Vaudeville : Charles 
Francis Panard (1689-1765), Fr. poet 
and dramatist. 

Lais, A : a prostitute. After a famous 
one of that name in ancient Greece. 
Laissez faire (Fr,, leave it alone) : the 
doctrine of non-interference by the 
State in economic matters. From the 
reply of a Fr. merchant to Jean 
Baptiste Colbert, the Fr. statesman 
(1619-83), when asked how he could 
assist trade. 

Lake Country, The : Cumberland, West- 
morland and North Lancashire. After 



Lake] 215 

the lakes with which that region 
abounds. 

Lake, The Great : the Atlantic Ocean, 
Term derived from the N. Amer.-Ind. 

Lakeland : the Lake Country (q.v.). 

Lake School, The : the group of Eng. 
poets — Wordsworth, Coleridge, 
Southey, etc. — who lived in or were 
connected with the Lake Country. 
So-called first by the Edinburgh 
Review. 

Lake State, The : Alichigan. situated on 
Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, Superior 
and St. Clair. 

Lakm, By’r : by Our Lady the Virgin 
Mary. Lakin is a contraction of 
Ladykin or little lady. 

Lamariinism : attribution of good 

motives. In allusion to the practice 
of Alphonse Lamartine (1790-1869), 

Fr. historian. 

Lamb of God, The : Jesus Christ, typified 
by the Paschal Lamb. 

Lame dog over a stile. To help a : to 
assist a person in a difficulty. [Marston, 
Insatiate Countess, II, ii (1605) ; Jno. 
Heywood, Proverhes (154b)] 

Lame duck, A : a member of the Stock 
Exchange who is unable to meet his 
engagements ; a person who for one 
reason or another is below the average 
of capacit^^ or prosperity. 

Lame post. To come by the : to arrive 
late. 

Lame as St. Giles Czipplegate : St. Giles 
was the patron saint of cripples. The 
congregation of cripples in and around 
the Church of St. Giles, London, gave 
the neighbouring city gate the name, 
Cripplegate. 

Lammas Day (Eve) : August 12th, the 
Harvest Festival. From Ang.-Sax., 
klaf maesse, loaf-feast, feast of first- 
fruits. 

Lammas lands : lands thrown open to 
pasture after the harvest (Lammas 
Day). 

At latter : never. Lammas 
(Aug. ist) was the day for the payment 
of accounts. Latter (last) Lammas 
never came. [Gascoigne, Steele Glass 

(1576)] 

Lammermoor lion, A : a sheep. 

Lamonrette Mss : a shortlived reconcili- 
ation. From the speech of the Abb6 
Adrien Lamourette in the French 
Legislative Assembly on the 7th of 
July, 1792, in consequence of which 
political opponents were reconciled — 
for three days. 


[Land 

Lamp of Heaven, The : (i) the moon ; 
(2) the sun. 

Lamp of Phoebus, The : the sun. 

Phoebus ’was the mythical personifi- 
cation of the sun. 

Lamp, To smell of the : of a literary work, 
to show sings of most careful prepara- 
tion. First applied to the orations of 
Demosthenes, which were prepared 
with great care late into the night. 

Lancaster gun, A : after Charles William 
Lancaster (1820-7S), the inventor. 

Land of Beulah, The : Paradise. 

According to The Pilgrim’s Progress 
(1678). [Isaiah, Ixii, 4] 

Land of Bondage, The : Egypf • Accord- 
ing to Exodus. 

Land 0’ cakes. The : Scotland. From 
the widespread consumption of oat- 
meal cakes. So-called by Robert 
Bums. 

Land of Cockaigne, The : the land of 
sensual pleasures. After the title of a 
popular poem of the 13th cent., 
according to which the houses were 
made of barley sugar and cakes, the 
streets were paved with pastr^’’, and 
the shops supplied goods without 
charge. 

Land flowing with milk and honey, A : 
see Milk and honey. 

Land of the golden fleece, The : 
Australia, in allusion to the wealth of 
wool produced there. 

Land of inverted order. The : Australia. 

Land League, The : an Irish political 
association, formed in 1879, to secure 
the land for the people. 

Land 0’ the Leal, The [Scot.) : Heaven, 
the mythical land of happiness. 
Korm.-Fr., loyal. 

Land lies. To see how the : to ascertain 
the state of affairs. A nautical 
metaphor. 

Land of the living. In the: alive. 
[Job, xxviii, 13] 

Land leaper (loper), A [Dutch, land- 
looper, one who runs up and down the 
land) : a vagabond. 

Land of the midnight sun, The : Norway, 
in the northern regions where daylight 
lasts throughout the summer night. 

Land of myrrh. The : Azab ; Saba. 

Land of Nod, The : sleep. A pun on the 
country mentioned in Gen., iv, 16. 

Land of nymphs. The : Ireland. 

Land of Promise, The: (i) Palestine, 
promised to the Israelites by God ; 
(2) any country that offers attractions 
to the immigrant. 



Iiand] 21 6 [Last 

Land of roasted pigs, The : China. After gods of the household or family, the 

the essay of Charles Lamb in which he Penates those of the store-room, 

narrated the discovery by the Chinese Large as life, As i full-sized. [Wilson, 
of the art of roasting pork. Art of Rhetoric 102 (1580)] 

Land of shadows, Gone to the : fallen Large, To set at : to set free. [Sir 
asleep. Shadows = dreams. Thos. Overbury, Characters : A Meere 

Land shark, A : a boarding-house keeper Common Lawyer (1616)] 

in seaport towns who preys on sea- Lark, To rise with the l to rise from 
men. hed very early in the morning. [Lyly, 

Land of stars and stripes, The : the Endimion, IV, i (1591)] 

United States of America. After the La Eochefoucauld of England, The : 
design on the national flag. Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of 

Land of steady habits. The : Connecticut. Chesterfield (1694-1773), orator, wit 

After the supposed moral character of and author of the famous letters. So- 

its inhabitants. called by Sainte-Beuve. Frangois, 

Land of the two-legged mare, The : the Due de La Rochefoucauld (1613-80) 

gallows. [Fulwell, Like Will to Like, was a Fr. statesman and moralist. 

1. 612 (1568)] Larrikin, A {Austral.) : a young street 

Land’s End, From Berwick to : see rowdy. Introduced in the press about 
Berwick. 1870. Possibly from Larr}% an Irish 

Landslide, A : an overwhelming move- diminutive of Lawrence, or a corrup- 
ment of electors from one party to tion of larking, 
another in a general election. Larry Dnrgan’s eye-water : blacking. 

Langue d’Oc : Provengal, the language From the name of a Dublin shoe- 
of Southern France, in which tongue black. 

* oc * signifies ‘ yes.* Last ailment of kings. The : force. The 

Langne d’Oil : the Walloon language, in maxim was engraved by Richelieu 

which * oil * signifies * yes.* {1585-1642) on the Fr. cannon. He 

Lantern, To bear the : to act as leader. derived it from Card. Francisco 

Lantern face, A : a long thin face with Ximenes (1436-1517). 

hollow cheeks. - Last infirmity of a noble mind. The : 

Lantern jaws : lantern face {q..v.). (i) love of fame; from Mlton, Lycidas, 

Lantern Land ; see Isle of Lanterns. II. 70-1 (1638) ; (2) ambition. [Ben 

Lantern of the night, The; the moon. Jonson, Catiline, III, ii (1611)] 

[That Nature Hath Made Women for Last of the Barons, The ; Rich. Neville, 

our Comfort, 11. ig-20 (i557)] Earl of Warwick (1428-71). From the 

Lmiteme, La : the extremists of the title of a novel by Edward Bulwer, 
French Revolution or followers of j Lord Lytton (1843). 

Robespierre. After La Lanteme de la Last of the Dandies, The : Count Alfred 
Gr^ve or street-lamp at the Place de la Guillaume Gabriel D*Orsay (1801-52). 
Gihve where several summary exe- Last of the English, The : Hereward 

cutions of political opponents had (fl. 1070), a rebel against the Norman 

taken place. conquerors of England. 

Laodicean : lukewarm ; half-hearted. Last of the Fathers, The : St. Bernard of 

After Laodicea in Asia Minor. [Rev., Clairvaux {1091-1153). In allusion to 
iii, 14, et seq.} the Church Fathers. 

Laodidans, Kie sin of the : indifference Last of the Goths, The : Roderick, King 

in religion, politics, etc. See Laodicean. of the West Goths (d. 71 1). 

Lapsus lingnsB, A [Lat., a slip of the Last of the Greeks, The : Philopcemen 

tongue) : [Zeno, Diogenes Laertius, (253-184 B.C,), So-called by Plutarch. 
VII, i, 22, 26 ; Dryden, Martin Last of the Knights, The : Maximilian 

Marr-all, III, i (1668)] (i459-i5i9), Emp. of Germany. 

Lapwing, As cunning as a : from the Last legs, On his : at the end of his 
reput^ practice of the lapwing of defence or resources. [Philip Massinger 

crying in other places in order to and Thomas IVIiddleton, The Old Law, 

attract her enemies away from her nest. V, i ( 1 656) ] 

[Ray, Proverbs (1670)] Last Man, ^e : Charles I of England. 

Lares and Penates ; the household gods ; So-called by the Puritans as an ex- 

one*s cherished household possessions. pression of their hope that he would 

The Lares familiares were the Roman be the last king of England. 



Last] 

Last minstrel of the Ehiglish stage, !Ehe : 
James Shirley (159^1666), J^glish 
dramatist. 

Last of the Mohicans, The : Uncas, a 
character m The Last of the Mohicans 
by James Fenimore Cooper (1826). 

Last of the Romans, The : (i) Cola di 
Rienzi; see Last of the Tribunes; 
(2) Cains Cassius Longinus (d. 42 B.C.), 
so-called by Brutus ; (3) ^tius (c. 
400-454), so-called by Gibbon; (4) 
Bonifacius (d. 432), so-called by 
Gibbon. The term was also applied to 
Francois Joseph Terasse Desbillons 
(1751-89), on account of his elegant 
Latin style, by Pope, to the dramatist, 
Wm. Congreve (1670-1729), to Charles 
James Fox (1749-1806), Eng. states- 
man, and to Horace Walpole (i 7 i 7 - 97 )» 
Eng. man of letters. 

Last, Stick to one’s : see Stick. 

Last straw. The : see Straw. 

Last of the Stuarts, The : Henry, Cardinal 
of York (1725-1807). The last legiti- 
mate male descendant of James I of 
England. 

Last things. The four : (Theol.) death, 
judgment, heaven, hell. 

Last of the Tribunes, The: Cola di 
Rienzi (1313-54)* bero of the Rom, 
rebellion of 1347. 

Last of the Troubadours, The : Jacques, 
Jasmin, Provencal poet (1798-1864). 

Last word. To have the : to make the last 
retort in an altercation. [Lilly, 
Endimmi, II, ii (1591)] 

Last-ditcher, A : an irrecondleable ; one 
who resists to the last. One who dies 
in the defence of the last ditch of an 
entrenchment. [Gilbert Burnet, 
History of His Own Time, 1 , 457 (1715)] 

Lathe painted to look like iron, A : 
Robert Cedi, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury 
(1830-1903), British statesman. So- 
called by Prince Bismarck, in connec- 
tion with the Berlin Congress of 1878. 

Latin Church, The : the Roman Catholic 
Church as distinrt from the Eastern or 
Grk. Church. 

Latin Croi^ : see Cross, Latin. 

Latin, Dog : uncouth, although 

grammatically accurate, Latin. 

Latin, Low : see Low Latin. 

Latin Union, The : a monetauy agree- 
ment between France, Belgium, Italy, 
Greece and Switzerland. Belgium 
subsequentiy withdrew. 

Latona’s son : the god, Apollo. 

Latter day saints : the Mormons. So- 
cked by themselves. 


2x7 [Lavender 

Latter Lammas, At the : see Lammas. 
Laudator temporis act! {Lot., a praiser 
of past events) : one who idealizes the 
past. [Horace, Ars Poetica, 173] 
Laugh and grow fht : an allusion to the 
Laughing Philosopher (q.v,), who w^ 
famous for his size as well as his 
laughter and his length of days. 
Laugh in one’s sleeve, To : to laugh to 
oneself. From the period when sleeves 
were worn very wide and it was easy to 
conceal the face with one. [Jno. 
Hejnvood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Laugh on the wrong side of one’s face. 
To : to cry ; to be grieved. [Scott 
Rob Roy, ch. 37 (1818)] 

Laughing matter, No : not a matter for 
laughter. [Foxe, Acts and Monu- 
ments, II (1563)] 

Lang hin g Philosopher, The : Democritus 
of Abdera (c. 460-357 B.C.). Because 
he laughed at the follies of mankind. 
Laureate, Poet : the offidal poet of the 
country on whom is conferred a small 
court appointment. Orig. a degree in 
poetry conferred by the Universities. 
From laurus, the leaf of the bay, 
sacred to Apollo, with which poets and 
other men of letters were formerly 
crowned. 

Laurels, To gain (win) : to earn honour. 
From the laurel with which in classic 
times those on whom honour was 
conferred were crowned. 

Laurels, To look to one’s: to take 
precautions lest one’s position of 
eminence be endangered. See Laurels, 
To gain. 

Laurence bids wages : idleness is attrac- 
tive. See Laurence, A lazy. 
Laurence^ A lazy : an indolent person. 
Probably alliterative; possibly an 
allusion to the hot season during which 
St. Laurence’s Day (Aug. loth) falls. 
From the Germ., Bet faule Lens, 
current in the i6th cent. There is also 
a tradition that the phrase is derived 
from a sneer by the executioner of St. 
Laurence, who attributed the latter's 
steadfastness under torture to his 
laziness. \The Infamous History of 
Sir Lawrence Lazie (1670)]. See also 
Lazy as David Laurence's dog. As, 
Lav^der, In : put away carefully, like 
domestic linen laid aside in lavender. 
[Earle, Microcosmography: A Young 
Raw Preacher (1628)] 

Lavender, To lay in : to pawn ; because 
goods pledged with a pawnbroker used 
to be kept in lavender. [Florio, 



2x8 


Law] 




Worlde of Wordes (i593) I Greene, 
Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592)] 

Law» : the Pentateuch, the Law of 
Moses. 

Law of . . To have (take) the : to take 
proceedings against in a court of law. 
IThe Spectator, No. 122 (1711)] 

Law of arms* The : (z) the convention 
observed by professional soldiers ; 
(2) a thrashing. 

Law to . . To ^ve the : to force one’s 
will upon . . 

Law into one’s own hands. To take the : 
to fdl the combined roles of com- 
plainant, judge and inflicter of punish- 
ment. 

Law, To lay down the : to adopt a 
dictatorial manner in argument. 

Law, The letter of the ; see Letter. 

Law iinio onesdf. To be a : to follow 
one’s own indmations without refer- 
ence to the law or other regulations. 
[Geo. Chapman, Bussy d’Ambois, Zl, i 

{1607)] 

Law, The Unwritten : see Unwritten. 

Laws of the Modes and Persiaiis, The : 
that which is not subject to modifi- 
cation or alteration. [Daniel, vi, 12] 

Laws of Natore, The: the bases of 
natural order. 

Lawless Parliament, The : see Unlearned 
Parliament. 

Lawrenoe : see also Laurence. 

Lawrence on erne’s back. To have; 
Lawrence, To have a touch of Old : to 
be unemployed. See Laurence, A laz^. 

Lawyer’s treat, A : refreshment in 
company at one’s own expense. 

Lay hftud v on. To : to seize ; to appre- 
hend. (Shakespeare, The Taming of 
the Shrew, V, i (159^)] 

Lay heads together. To: to consult. 
[Congrave, The Double-dealer, V, xx 

(1694)] 

Lay by ^ heels. To : to deprive of power 
for action. An allusiozi to the punish- 
ment of the stocks. 

Lay to a person’s charge, To : to accuse 
a person of . . [Deuteronomy, xxi, 8] 

Lay on the table, To : see Table. 

Lazaxoni : see lAzzarons. 

Lassams and Dives : the poor and the 
rich. From the parable in Luke, xvi, 
X9 et seq, Lat., Dives, ridi man. 

Lazy as David Lanrooce’s dog. As : from 
X^urence, the Scot, folk patron of the 
lazy. See Laurence, A lazy. 

Lazy as Ludlam’s dog. As : Ludlam, the 
sorceress of Faxnham, had a dog whidh 
was too lazy to bark. 


Lazy man’s load, A ; a load too great to 
carry atone journey, but under which 
the bearer struggles in order to avoid 
a second journey. 

Lazzaroni : the beggars and street popu- 
lation of Naples. From the Hospital 
of St. Lazarus, the workhouse of that 
city. 

Lead apes in Bell, To : the supposed fate 
of old maids, esp. those who were 
coquettes while alive. Ape was some- 
times a synon3m3 for fool. [Shakes- 
peare, Much Ado About Nothing, II, 
i (i599-zfioo)]- Apes in 

Hell. 

Lead a person a diase, To : to cause 
trouble by not foUowii^ a clear line. 

Lead a person a dancA To : to cause a 
person much trouble. [Heywood, 
Woman Killed (1607)] 

Lead a penon a life, To : to annoy and 
torment a person. 

Lead by the nose. To : to cause to carry 
ottt one’s wishes submissivdy. From 
an andent Grk. proverb, in allusion 
apparently, to the leading and guiding 
of oxen by means of rings inserted in 
their noses. [Shakespeare, Othello, I. 
iii, 407 (?i6o4)] 

Lead by the sleeve. To ; to lead by the 
nose [q.v.). 

Leaden sword (dagger). To fi^t with a : 
to undertake a task impossible of fulfil- 
ment. [Fulke, HeskhVs Parliament 

(1579)] 

Leading questioin, A : a question (esp. in 
law) that suggests the answer that is 
required. 

strings. To be in : to be under 
close direction, like a child. Leading- 
strings are the strings by which 
children are taught to walk. 

Leaf out of a person’s book. To take a : 
to follow another person’s example. 
Perhaps an allusion to literary 
plagiarism. 

Leaf, To tom over a new : to enter on a 
new line of conduct. A metaphor 
derived from book-reading. [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

The : form^ in 1576 by the 
Guises to uphold Ckitholidsm in France 
and inddentally to prevent the 
accession to the throne of Henry of 
Navarre. 

League with - . To be in : to be in dose 
co-operation with . . [Cooper, 
Thesaurus (1565)] 

Lean as a rake, As: very thin. [Caiaucer, 
Canterbury Tales, I, 289 (14th cent.)] 



219 


Leap] 

Leap in the dark, A : the description by 
the dissentient conservatives of the 
Conservative Reform Bill of 1867. 
First used in this connection by the 
Marquis of Salisbury, then Lord Cran- 
boume. Any decision ■which, carrying 
with it great uncertainty, is of the 
nature of a gamble. Also used by 
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the Eng. 
philosopher, and subsequently by 
others in reference to death. 

Leaps and bounds. By : with great 
rapidity. 

Learned Blacksmith, The : Hlihu Bunitt 
(1810-79), Arner. philanthropist and 
linguist. 

Learned fool in Christendom, The most ; 
James I of England. Description 
applied to him by the Duke of Sully 
(1560-1641). 

Learned Painter, The : Charles Lebrun 
(1619-90). From the accuracy of his 
costumes. 

Learned Tailor, The : Henry Wild of 
Norwich (1684-1734), who knew 
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, 
Syriac and Chaldaic. 

Learned Theban, A : one who is expert at 
solving riddles. From CEdipus, King 
of Thebes, who solved the riddle of 
the Sphinx. 

Learning, The New : Greek and other 
subjects of study revived in England 
during the i6th cent. 

Leather and prunella : an3rthing that 
arouses no interest in one. Prunella is 
the material used for the uppers of 
women’s boots. 

* Worth makes the man, and want of 
it the fellow ; 

The rest is ^ but leather and 
prunella.’ 

[Pope, Essay on Man, IV, 204 
(1732-4)] Leather represents the 
cobbler ; prunella (from which clerical 
gowns are made) the parson. 

Leather-hunting : fielding, in cricket. In 
allusion to the leather of which the 
cricket-ball is made. 

Leathering to . . To give a : to thrash. 
In allusion to the leather lash. 

Leave, French : see French. 

Leaves without figs : promise without 
fulfilment. In allusion to the barren 
fig-tree mentioned in Luke, xiii. 

Led captain, A : a parasite. [Wycherley, 
Love in a Wood, I, i (1694)] 

Leeds, The Austrian : Brfinn in Moravia, 
formerly in the Austrian Empire. In 
allusion to its woollen manxSactures. 


[Legs 

Le^ To eat the : to accept humiliation 
submissively. From a passage in 
Shakespeare, Henry V, V, i, 10 

(1599). 

Left, The : the democratic or advanced 
party in a legislature. In allusion to 
the seats occupied by them on the 
left of the chairman. 

Left eye. To see with the : to see im- 
perfectly. 

L^t (shoulder), Over the : a suggestion 
that the statement is untrue ; not to 
be taken seriously. [Records of Hart- 
ford County Court (1705)] 

Left hand of firiendship. To give the : to 
treat in an unfriendly manner. 

Left hand. To work with the : to work 
inefiiciently. 

Left shoulder. To go over the: to be 
wasted. 

Left-handed compliment, A : a doubtful 
or ambiguous compliment. 

Left-handed marriage, A : a morganatic 
marriage, in which the husband is said 
to give Ids left hand to his bride in 
the course of the marriage ceremony. 

Left-handed oath, A : an oath when 
taken not intended to be kept. 

Leg, To have a bone in one’s : see Bone. 

Leg, The boot is on the other : see Boot. 

Leg up, To give a person a : to help a 
person over a difficulty, (metaph.) over 
a stile or other ph3rsical obstruction. 

Leg, To make a : to make a bow. [Rare 
Triumphs of Love and Fortune, III, 
1. 77 (1589)] 

Leg of mutton school. The : :^etasters 
and parasites who write servile poetry 
for their living instead of their art or 
other mission. So-called by J. G. 
Lockhart (1794-1854) in a review of 
Fleurs : A Poem in Four Books. 

Leg, To pull one’s : to deceive, impose 
upon, a person. 

Leg foremost, To put one’s best : to throw 
oneself thoroughly into an afiair ; to 
make every effort to attain the goal. 
[Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, 
IV, ii {1607)] 

Leg to stand on. Not a : with no support 
(generally metaph.) whatever. [De 
Quincey, On Murder Considered as a 
Fine Art (1827)] 

Legs, To get upon one’s : to get into a 
temper. Metaphor drawn from the 
rearing of horses. 

Legs, One’s last : see Last legs. 

Legs, To set upon his : to establish in 
business ; to place a man in a position 
to support himself. 



less] 220 [Lotter 


Le^ To stand upon one's own : to be 

self-supporting, self-reliant. 

Legs, To take to one’s : to run away. 

Leg-np, To ^ve a person a : to render a 
person assistance. 

Legerdemain light of hand) : sleight 
of hand. [W. Roy and Jeremy 
Barlowe, Rede Me, etc. (152^)] 

Legion of Honour ; Is^gion d’Honnenr : 
the Fr. Order of Merit, founded by 
Napoleon I in 1802. 

Legislator of Parnassus, The : Nicholas 
Boileau (1636-1711), a famous Fr. 
critic and poet. So-called by V oltaire, 
on account of his Art of Poetry, After 
Parnassus, a mountain ridge in Greece 
which was in mythology the seat of 
music and poetry. 

LeipsiCi To be one’s : to be the occasion 
of one’s disaster or min. After the 
Battle of Leipsic (1813) in which 
Napoleon was severely defeated. 

Lemnian deed, A : a deed of unusual 
barbarity. From two ferocious 
massacres said to have been perpe- 
trated in classical times by the 
inhabitants of Lemnos. 

Lemnian Smith, The: Vulcan. From 
the legend that when flung out of 
heaven he fell on the Island of Lemnos. 

Length of a person’s foot. To know the : 
to understand his meaning or inten- 
tions fuUy. [Bunyan, The Holy War 
(1682)] 

Lenson B3U to Pilsen Pio, As much akm 
as : not at all related. Lenson Hill 
and Pilsen Pin are two independent 
heights in Dorsetshire, which, viewed 
from the sea, appear as one. 

Leoii^ A : a period of abstinence or 
depression. From the ecclesiastical 
period of fasting and penitence which 
precedes Easter. 

Lent, Clean : the ecclesiastical Lent or 
period of forty weekdays of abstention 
and penitence which precedes Easter, 

Lenten lover# A : one easy to feed. 

Leo Hunter, Mis. : see Hunter, 

Leonidas of modern Greece, The : Marco 
Bozzaris, who defeated a Turkish- 
Albanian army three and a half times 
as large as his own at Kerpenisi in 1823. 
After Leonidas, the Spartan hero, who 
with 300 followers withstood the 
immense Persian army at Thermopylae 
in 480 B.C. 

Leonine contract, A {Span,, Contraio 
Leonino) : a contract which is unjustly 
one-sided. In allusion to the fable of 
The Lion and His Fellow-hunters, 


Leonine verses (elegiacs) : verses whose 
ends rhyme with their middles. After 
Leo or Leoninus, a Canon of Paris in 
the 1 2 th cent., who popularized 
them. 

Lema of ills, A : a very great evil. In 
allusion to Lake Lema where Hercules 
destroyed the Hydra. 

Lesbian : pliant, easily influenced. After 
the Lesbian rule, a mason's rule, which 
can be bent to fit into curves, 
mouldings, etc. 

Lesbian The: Alcaeus (611—580 

B.C.), of Mytilene in Lesbos. By 
some authorities considered the first 
of the lyric poets of Greece. 

Lesbian Mflg, A : an immodest kiss. In 
allusion to the licentiousness for which 
the ancient Lesbians were notorious. 

Lesbian rule. The : making a rule con- 
form to tiie thing ruled, instead of 
making the thing ruled conform to the 
rule. See also Lesbian. 

Ldse Majesid (Lai,, laesa majestas, 
offended majesty) : an offence against 
the dignity of the sovereign. 

Lessian diet : strict temperance, as 
advocated by Leonhard Lessius (1554- 
1623), Dutch Jesuit. 

L’Etai, e’est moi {Fr,, I am the state) : 
a remark falsely attributed to Louis 
XIV at a meeting of the parliament in 
1655 when he was 17 years of age. It 
was, in fact, a crystallization of his 
policy as developed later in his 
reign. 

Let down, To : to fail to fulfil one s 
engagements to . . 

Let in. To be : to be deceived, trapped. 
[Wm, Haughton, Englishmen for My 
Money, II, ii (i597)] 

Lethe : oblivion. After Lethe, one of 
the rivers of hell (Grk. mythology), a 
draught of which caused oblivion of 
the past. 

Letter, A dead : see Dead letter. 

Letter of the law. The: the law as 
literally interpreted. 

Letter of Marqne, A : a commission 
authorizing a private individual to 
seize enemy property on the seas, i.e,, 
to fit out privateers. Abolished by the 
Treaty of Paris in 1856. Marque is 
deriv^ from the marches or border 
lands whose lords were authorized to 
exact reprisals on the population over 
the border. 

Letter and the spirit, The : the nominal 
and the real. From the letter and 
the spirit of the law. 



Letter 

Letter of Uriah, A : a letter pretending 
friendship but in reality engineering 
betrayal. [II Samuel, xi, 14] 

Letters, St. Agatha’s : letters written on 
St. Agatha's Day (Feb. 5th) as a 
means of protection against fire. 

Lettre de Cachet, A (Fr.) ' an order 
committing to prison without trial, 
signed with the seal {cachet) of the 
French king. Abolished in 1790. 

Lettre de Jerusalem, A : a blacimaailing 
letter. 

Levant, The {It., Levajzte, the eastern 
region) : the countries bordering on 
the Eastern Mediterranean. 

Levd best. To do one’s : to do one's 
utmost. 

Levellers, Irish : agrarian ofienders in 
the latter half of the i8th cent, who 
levelled the fences by which common 
land was enclosed. 

Lever de rideau, A {Fv., raising of the 
curtain) : a short introductory play. 

Leviathan of Literature, The : Dr. Samuel 
Johnson (1709-84). 

Levitical Degrees : the degrees of 
relationship between which marriage 
is forbidden. From the Book of 
Leviticus in which the laws arelaiddown. 

Lex non scripts {Lat., the unwritten law) ; 
the common law as distinguished from 
the statute or written law. 

Lextalionis (Aa^.) • the law of retaliation, 
based on the biblical law of an eye for 
an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc. 

Leyden jar, A : a jar so made as to be 
charged with electricity. Invented at 
Leyden, Holland. 

Leze Majesty (Majesty) : see L^se 
Majesty. 

Libel firom a lupine, Not to know a : to 
be entirely ignorant. Among the 
Romans a Hbel was a small silver coin, 
a lupine, a counter. 

Liberal Arts, The : education suitable 
for a gentleman. Orig. those arts 
considered worthy of a free man. 

Liberal education, A : an education in 
the Liberal Arts {q.v.). 

Liberal Party, The : a British political 
party in favour of progress and 
democracy ; the successor of the Whig 
party. From the title of Lord Byron's 
periodical. The Liberal (1828). 

Liberal Republicans, The: a political 
party, formed in the U.S. in 1872, to 
prevent Pres. U. S. Grant from 
securing election for a second term. 

Liberal Sciences, The : sciences worthy 
of a free man. See liberal Arts. 


•Ji [Lick 

Liberal Science, The Eighth ; warfare. 
Liberal Unionist Party, The : a British 
political party formed of a secession 
from the Liberal party in 1886 in 
opposition to Home Rule for Ireland, 
liberation. The War of : the war waged 
against Napoleon in 1813-14 which 
resulted in the liberation of the Germ, 
states from French rule. 

Liberator, The : Daniel O’Connell (1775- 
1847), the advocate of CathoHc Eman- 
cipation and other Irish liberties. See 
also Libertador, El. 

Liberator of the New World, The : 

Benjamin Franklin (1706-90). 
Libertador, El: the Liberator Simon 
Bolivar (1783-1830), who led the revolt 
of the Amer. colonies from Spain, 
libertine, A chartered : see Chartered. 
Liberty, The Apostle of : Henry Clay 
(1777-1852), Amer. statesman and 
orator, who supported the South Amer. 
states in their revolt from Spain, 
liberty, Cap of : see Cap. 

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity : the watch- 
words of the French Revolution, 
liberty Hall : a place where one may do 
as one likes. [Oliver Goldsmith, She 
Stoops to Conquer, II {1773)] 

Liberty man, A : a sailor who absents 
himself on leave from his ship, 
liberty Party, The : an Amer. political 
party founded in 1839 in opposition to 
slavery. 

liberum Veto, The : a provision in the 
old Polish Diet under which no law 
could be enacted in the absence of 
unanimity on the part of members of 
the Diet. 

libro d’Oro, A {It., book of gold) : any list 
of titles of honour, etc. Orig. a 
register of noble families in Venice and 
other It. republics. 

licinian Laws : laws adopted in Rome 
about 370 B.C. in the interests of the 
Plebeians as against those of the 
Patricians. After C. Licinius Calvus 
(Stolo), the tribune of the people, 
lick a person. To : to thrash a person. 
Perhaps from the phrase * an unlicked 
cub,* or from Welsh, llach, a slap. 

Lick the dust To : to fall in battle. 
[Psalm, Ixxii, 9] 

lidk a person’s feet, To : to be obsequious. 

[Anth. Brewer, Lingua (1607)] 

Li^ into shape. To : to put into order ; 
to make presentable. In allusion to 
the long persistent superstition sup- 
ported by Pliny and Aristotle, among 
others, that a bear's cub is bom an 



222 


Umb 




amorphons mass and is lidced into 
shape by its mother. [Burton, 
Anatomy of Meiancholy, To the 
• Reader (i62x}l 

ldokHSpiiil6> A: a toady. [Davenant, 
Atbovine (1629)] 

licik-trench^, A ; a parasite. [Withal, 
Dictionarie (1608)] 

Ide like a buustixi, To : in reference to 
military bulletins in general, and e^. 
to l^ose of Napoleon during his 
Russian campaign. 

Lie dioasistanna]. The : ' the lie with 
drcumstance.' [Shakespeare. As You 
Like It, V, iv (i6oo)] 

Ide direct. The : [Shakespeare. As You 
Like It, V, iv (1600^ 
lie with one’s &iheni> To: todie; to be 
buried. [Genesis, xlvii. 30] 
liCi To give a person the : to accuse a 
person of untrathfoluess. [Darker, 
The Seuen Deadly Sin}2es : Lying 
(i6o6)l 

Lie in the lap of . • To : to be destined 
for, but not defined in advance ; like 
an unbom child. 

lie low* To : to conceal oneself or one's 
intentions. [J. C. Harris, Uucle 
Remus (z88o)] 

Lie qnaxrwome* The: [Shakespeare. 

As You Like It, V. iv (1600)] 

Ide for the whetstone, To : to exaggerate 
or deceive grossly. At Whitsim amuse- 
ments in olden times a whetstone ' to 


sharpen his wit ' used to be given as a 
reward to the victor in a lying- 
match. 

Ide, A white : a ^dsehood that does no 
harm and is considered morally 
justifiable. 

Idto, To the: perfectly counterfeited. 
[UUy, Campaspe, I, ii (15^4)] 

Idto dear; Tom one’s : to defend oneself 
with the utmost energy. 

Life to one’s hand. To carry one’s : to 
puzsue an undertaking fraught with 
danger to one's life. 

Life and sonl of - . The : the centre of 
good spirits of . . ; the centre of life. 
[Fes. Coventry, History of Pomp^ the 
Little, ch. id (1751)] 

Lift; To : to steal. [Ben Jonson, The 
Devilis an Ass {1616) ; Robert Greene, 
James the Fourth, III, i (1594)] 

Xdit To have a person ai a : to have a 
person in one's power. A wrestling 
metaphor. 

light of the Ag^ The: Maimonides 
(1135-1204), Hispano- Jewish philoso- 
pher. 


Light imder a bushel* To hide one’s : to 
be modest; not to trumpet forth one’s 
qualifications. [Matthew, v, 15] 

Idc^t of one’s eyes, The : a beloved one. 
[loth cent.] 

Li&t as a feather* As : (1) of very light 
weight; [Cicero, Ad Atiicxiin, VlII, 
XV, 2; Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 
{2) v(^ easily ; (3) worthless. [The 
Man in the Moon, 5 (1609)] 
light as gossamer* & : very light and 
fiimsy. Gossamer has been used in 
this sense since the i4fh cent, 
lightasakez (kyi]* As: verylight. A 
kex is a dry, hollow stalk. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

LWbt o’ love* A : a flirt, a woman of 
accommodatmg morals. From the 
title of an old tune. [Nashe, 
Anatome of Absurdiiie (1589)] 

Light of .. To make: not to treat 
seriously. [Bacon, Rulers of Good and 
Evill, § 8 (1597)3 

Xd^ To stand to one’s own ; sss Stand, 
light npra . . To throw : to give in- 
formation regarding . . 

Light as the wind, As: [Interlude of Youth ; 

Lyly, GaUathea, I, iv (1592)] 

Light of the World* The : Jesus Christ. 
From the title of a painting by Wm. 
Holman Hunt. [Matthew, v, 14] 
lights* Before the : see Before. 
Xdght-ftogered ; dishonest. Properly, 
having lig^hit or nimble fingers. [iViV^ 
Wanton (1560)] 

LUdit-fingered gentry* The : pickpockets. 
See Light-fingered. 

Lfehtning strike, A : a strike of workmen 
dedared at a moment's notice, and 
therefore as sadden as a stroke of 
lightning. 

Zdgiad[anAris*The : deception ; trickery. 
Like as two peas. As: exactly alike. 
[Lyly, Euphves: Anatomy of Wit, 
Epistle Dedicatory (1579) ; Ihos. 
Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens (1681)] 
Idlbazne* John would quarrel with : in 
allusion to John Lilbume (1618-57), a 
cantankerous schismatic ox the pc^od 
of the Commonweallh. 

IdUipntlan: of diminutive size. After 
lilliput, the land of tiny men, described 
in Swift, GulUver^s Travels (1726). 
Idly, To paint tim : see Paint the lily. To. 
Lily-livered : timorous. The liver was 
formerly considered the centre of 
passion and physical courage. 

Xdmb of the law* A : a l^al f^ctionazy. 
[Tobias Smollett, Sir L, Greaves, I, ii 
(1763)] 



Limb] 223 

Iamb of Satan, A : an imp of Satan. 

Limb &om Warbuxton, To tear : a play 
on the place named Lymm-cum- 
Warburton. 

Limbo, In i in prison ; in confinement. 
From limbus, in scholastic theology, a 
place bordering on hell. [Lyndsay, 

The Dr erne, I, 14 (i 553)1 

Limbus Fatuorum : a fool's paradise. 
[iVIilton, Paradise Lost, III, 495 (1667] 

See Limbo, In. 

Limbus Infantum : the place where the 
souls of unbaptised infants go after 
death. See Limbo, In. 

Limbus of the moon : the borders of Hell, 
according to Ariosto [Orlando Fuvioso, 
xxxiv, 70), situated in the moon. See 
Limbo, In. 

Limbus Patrum : the place where the 
souls of good men who lived before 
Christ go after death. See Limbo, In. 

Iambus ^erorum : the place where the 
souls of unbaptized children remained. 

See Limbo, In and Limbus Infantum. 

Limehouse : unrestrained abuse of one's 
political opponents, similar to that 
employed by Mr. David Lloyd George 
in a speech at Limehouse, London, on 
the 30th of July, 1909. 

Lime-Juicer : (Amer.) a British sailor or 
ship. In allusion to the consumption 
of lime juice on board British 
vessels. 

Limerick, A ; a more or less nonsense 
verse of a certain character, in the 
metre popularized by Edward Lear in 
his Book of Nonsense (1846), said to 
have been derived from a refrain sung 
at gatherings at which the pastime of 
making limericks wa3 followed. 

lime-twigs for . - To set : to lay a snare 
for . . In allusion to the twigs 
smeared with bird lime used for 
catching birds. [Joshua Cook, How a 
Man May Choose a Good Wife from a 
Bad, IV, ii, (1602)] 

Liuceus’ sight. As sharp as : in reference 
to Lynceus, one of the Argonauts, 
famous for his keen sight. [Geo. 
Gascoigne, The Steel Glass (1576)] 

Lmcolu green. Clad in : Lincoln was 
formerly famous for the manufacture 
of green dye. 

Lmcolnshire bagpipes : the croaking of 
frogs. In allusion to their prevalence 
in the Lincolnshire Fens. 

Lindabrides, A : a mistress. After the 
heroine of a romance called Ths Mirror 
of Knighthood, mentioned in Don 
Quixote. 


[Lion’s 

Line of life, The i (Palmistry) one of the 
lines in the palm of the hand. [Shakes- 
peare, Merchant of Venice, II, ii (1596)] 

Line, The thin red : see Thin red line. 

Lines, To read between the : to deduce a 
not obvious meaning from a written 
or spoken statement. 

Linenopolis : Belfast. On account of 
its linen manufactures. 

Lingua Franca : the commerical 
language used in the Near East. A 
mixture of Fr., It., Arabic, etc., 
[Dryden, Limherham, I (1679)] 

Linseed Lancers, The : the Royal Army 
Medical Corps. 

Linsey-woolsy million, The : the masses. 
From the supposition that they wear 
linsey-woolsy as opposed to broad- 
cloth, the clothing of the classes. 
[Peter Pindar, Benevolent Epistle to 
Sylvayins Urban (1790)] 

Lion, A : a person much sought after on 
account of his distinction. [Lady Mary 
Wortley Montagu, Town Eclogues 
{1715)]’ See Lionize. 

Lion, The British : the emblem of Great 
Britain or the British nation. 

Lion of Cotswold, A : a sheep. 

Lion of God, The: the Caliph AU 
(c. 602-661). 

Lion of the North, The : Gustavus 
Adolphus (1594-1632), King of Sweden. 

Lion Rouge, The (Pr., rouge, red) : 
Marshal ISTey (1769-1815). In allusion 
to his red hair. 

Idon Sermon, The : an annual sermon 

g reached in the Church of St. Katherine 
ree, London, in commemoration of 
the escape of Sir John Gayer (d. 1649), 
who endowed the sermon, from a 
lion. 

lion of Sweden, The : Johan von Baner, 
Swed. general (1596-1641). 

Lion in the way, A : an obstacle, real or 
imaginary. [Proverbs, xxvi, 13] 

Zion’s Heart, The : Richard I, King of 
England (1157-99). In allusion to his 
bravery. 

lion’s mouth, To put one^s head in the ; 
to put oneself into a dangerous 
position. [Psalms, xxii, 21] 

Lions of a place. The : the sights worth 
seeing, or the celebrities. See Lion, A. 
Lion’s provider. The : (i) the jackal ; 
(2) any person who offers himself as a 
toil to a person whom he considers 
more important than himself. 

Lion’s share. The : the principal share ; 
nearly the whole. In allusion to one 
of Msop's Fables. 



lion's] 224 

Lion’s tail, To twist the : to subject 
Bngland to petty annoyances or insults. 
The phrase was invented in the U.S. 
about 1886. See Uon, The British. 

Lions of the Western World, The : the 
English. [Soliman and Perseda, I, 

11. 99-100 (1599)] . . 

Lion-hiinter, A : one given to lionizing 
people. Popularized by Dickens in 
Mr. and Mrs. Leo Hunter. [Pickwick 
Papers (1836) ; Maria Edgeworth, 
Helen, ch. xii (1834)] 
lionise. To : to treat and exhibit as an 
object of interest. Orig. to take visitors 
to see the lions formerly kept at the 
Tower of London. 

lip homage : merely nominal homage. ^ 
lip-servioe: pretended service, as of the lip 
but not of the heart. [Isaiah, xsix, 13] 
lit de Justice (Fr., bed of justice) • a 
sitting of the Fr. States-general in the 
presence of the king at which laws were 
promulgated to which the States- 
general had refused their assent. 
littersB Hnmaniores (Lat,, the more 
human letters) : the final classical 
examinatioii in honours at Oxford 
University. 

little Britain School of Foliticiaxis, The : 
the Eng. school of politicians which is 
opposed to an imperialistic Jingo 
policy. So-called by their opponents. 
Little Cc^oral, The : Napoleon I. Title 
given to bim by his soldiers after the 
Battle of Lodi in 1 796. In allusion to 
his stature. 

Little Ease : the pillory ; the stocks. 

[Bp. Latimer (1490-1555). Sermons] 
Little end of the horn. To come out of 
the: to get the worst of a bargain. 
[Eastward Ho, 1, i (1605)] 
little : an opponent of the 

further expansion of the British 
Empire ; one who considers the 
interests of the British Isles of more 
consequence than and sometimes 
opposed to those of the British Empire, 
The term is said to have been invented 
by the Pall Mall Gazette (July 30, 2884). 
Little Father, The : the Czar of Russia. 
Little Gentleman in V^vet, The : the 
mole that raised the hill on which the 
horse of William III of England 
stumbled when he was fatally injured 
(1702). In the subs^uent reign the 
Jacobites used to drink to the Little 
Gentleman in Velvet. 

Little Giant, The : Stephen Arnold 
Douglas (1813-61), Amer. statesman, 
small in stature, great in intellect. 


[livy 

Little Go : the first exam, for the B.A. 
degree at Cambridge University. 

Little god. The : Cupid, the god of love. 
Depicted as a boy. 

little Lord Fanntleroy : a beautiful little 
boy, generally dressed in the style of 
the hero of Mrs. Frances Hodgson 
Burnett's novel of that name (1886}. 

Little Mac : George Brinton McClellan 
(1826-85), Amer, general. 

Little Magidan, The : Martin van Buren 
(1782-1862), President of the U.S. 

Little Marlborough: Kurt Christoph, 
Count Schwerin (1684-1757), Germ, 
field-marshal. In allusion to John 
Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (1650- 
1722), British general. 

little Mary: the stomach. After the 
title of an allegorical play by Sir. J. M. 
Barrie. 

Little Fans : (i) Brussels ; (2} IMilan. 
In allusion to their gaiety. 

Little FarUameni, The : Cromwell’s 
Parliament (Barebone's Parliament) of 
1653. In allusion to the number (120) 
of its members. 

li^e Fedlington : a village or other 
small circle in which all the usual petty 
vices are prevalent. After the title 
of a story by John Poole (c. 1787- 
1872), 

little Bhody : Rhode Island, the 
smallest state of the Union. 

Little Van : Martin van Buren (1782- 
1862), President of the U.S. 

Little Venice : Aiendal, Norway. 

Little Witham : ‘See Witham. 

live Oak State, The : Florida. 

liver vein, Tlxe : the style and manner 
of men in love. 

Liverpool Landseer, The : William 
Huggins (1820-84), Eng. animal 
painter. Sir Edwin Henry Landseer 
(1802-73), was a distinguished Eng. 
anim^ painter. 

livery Company, A : one of the London 
City Companies. Orig. trade guilds, 
whose members formerly wore liveries. 

Living wage, A : a wage sufihcient to 
enable a worker to live comfortably. 
First used by Sir Andrew Clarke in 
2892. 

livy of France^ The : Juan de Mariana 
(2537-2624). In allusion to Titus 
livius (Livy), the Rom. historian who 
lived from B.C. 59 to A.D. 17. 

livy of Portugal, The : Joao de Barros 
(1496-2570). 

liT^, The Bnssian : Nicholas Michaelo^ 
vitch Karamzin (1765-1826). 



Lloyds] ^^5 

Lloyds : a London underwriting associ- 
ation. From Edw. Lloyd (fi. 1688- 
1726), at whose coh'ee-house merchants 
interested in shipping assembled and 
who published periodical shipping 
news. 

Loaves and fishes : material advantage 
obtained under the guise of public or 
religious service, [/o/jm, vi, 26] 

Lobby, To : to frequent the lobby of a 
parliamentary’’ chamber in order to 
obtain support. 

Lobelia : a genus of flowering plant. 
After Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616), 

Fr. botanist. 

Lobster, A : a British soldier. In 
allusion to his red coat. First applied 
to Sir A. Hazilrigg's cavalry in 1642, 
which were completely armed with 
corslets. 

Local option : the principle of extending 
to localities the decision whether to 
suppress the liquor traffic or not. 

Local veto : the prohibition of the sale of 
alcoholic refreshment in localities. 

See Local option. 

Lock Hospital, A : a hospital for sufferers 
from venereal disease. From Lock 
Lazar House, the name of a former 
hospital of this description in South- 
wark, 

Lock and key. To keep under : to keep 
locked up. 

Lock, stock and barrel : anything in its 
completeness. In allusion to the three 
parts which together compose a 
sporting rifle. A sporting metaphor. 

Lock-out, A : a suspension of work at a 
factory, etc., due to a labour dispute 
originating with the employer, who 
* locks out ' the men. 

Locksmith’s danghter, The : a key. 

Loco(-foco) : the radical wing of the 
Amer. Democratic party. At a meeting 
in 1835, an opponent suddenly cut off 
the gas, whereupon light was obtained 
from candles lit by ‘ locofoco ’ matches. 

Loco parentis. In (La/., in the place of a 
parent) : acting as a parent. [Lydy, 
Campaspe, II, i (1584)] 

Loonm tenens, A (Lat., holding the place): 
a deputy or temporary sub^tute, 
generally for a physician. 

Locns cla^cns (La/., classic place) ; a 
passage in a book which is accepted as 
authoritative. 

Locns standi (Lat., place of standing] : 
right to appear (in court, ect.). Orig. 
a legal term. 

Log or King Stork, iSng : see King Log. 


[Long 

Loggerheads, To be at : to quarrel ; to 
dispute. [Cotton, Virgil Travestie 
(1678)] 

Logic, To chop : see Chop. 

Logrolling : co-operation between two 
or more individuals or political parties 
on the principle that one good turn 
deserves another. In allusion to the 
practice of the loggers of Maine of 
assisting one another to roll their logs 
to the river. 

Log-rolling ciiticisni : the practice of 
favourably reviewing one another's 
literary works. 

Loi d’ Amour (Fr.^ Law of love) : the 
Fr. parliamentary repression of the 
Press of 1827. 

Loi B&renger, The: a Fr. law (1891) 
under which sentence on first offenders 
may be suspended. 

Loins, To gird up one’s : to set to to a 
work. The ancient Hebrews used to 
wear loose garments and when pre- 
paring for work or a journey bound or 
girded them about their loins. 
[II Kings, iv, 2] 

Lombard, A : a medieval banker or 
financier. After Lombardy, whence 
most of them spread over Europe. 

Lombard Street : the London money 
market. From the name of the street 
in which many of the banks have 
their headquarters. 

Lombard Street to a china orange: a 
formula for a wager in which there is 
a considerable difference between the 
value of the respective stakes. See 
Ix>mbeu:d Street. [Southey, The 
Doctor, X (1834) ; Arthur Murphy, 
Citizen, II, i (1786), * All Lombard 
Street to an eggshell.’] 

Lombard Street man, A : a banker. See 
Lombard Street. 

London-super-mare (Lai,, London on the 
sea) : Brighton, the principal watering- 
place of London. 

London’s dormitories : the outer suburbs, 
of London, firom which so many of the 
workers come in the morning and to 
which they return at night. 

Lone Stsu: State, The : Texas. In 
allusion to the single star in its aims. 

Long bow. To draw the : to exaggerate ; 
to tell incredible tales, [Urquhart, 
Rabelais, V, 30 (1453)] 

Long chalk (chalks}. To win by a : an 
allusion to the system of marking in 
the game of dominoes. 

Long dozen, A ; thirteen. 

Long fece, A : see Face. 

Q 



{long] 226 [Ix)mbtiry 


Long Hrm, A : a coaipany of swindlers 
wko make large purcliases on credit on 
behsdE of a non-existent firm. 

Long Friday : Good Friday. From the 
length of its church services and of its 
^t. 

Long home, To go to one’s : to die. 

Long hnndred, A i one hundred and 
twenty. 

Long juTirng g, A : a long life ; a lengthy 
period of success, A cricketing 
metaphor. 

Long, John : see John Long. 

Long as a lawHsnilC As : in allusion to the 
proverbiaJ dilatoriness of the law. 
[Dekker, The GiilVs Hornbook, ch. 3 
(1609)] 

Long l^liament. The: the Parliament 
of 1640 which was not finally dissolved 
until after the Restoration in 1660. 

Long Peter : Peter Aartzen (1507-73). 
Flem. painter. In allusion to his 
stature. 

Long parse, A : wealth. 

Long Bohe, A Gentleman of the: see 
Gentleman. 

Long nm. In the : ultimately. 

Long and the short of it. The : an epitome 
of the story. \Jhe Four Elements, 
11. 597-9 (1579)] 

Long spoon. To need a : to need to take 
every precaution. From the proverb, 

‘ one needs a long spoon wherewith to 
sup with the devS.* 

L(mg Tom : see Tom. 

Longshanks: King Edward 1 (1239- 
Z307). In allusion to his long legs. 

Loxigshore A : a wharfinger or one 
employed along the shore. 

Long-winded, To he : to be tediously 
long in speech. [Hay any Work, 48 

(1589)] 

Lonsdale’s ninepins. Lord : the mne 
boroughs in which the Earl of Lonsdale 
before the 1832 Reform Act, used to 
secure the election of his nominees to 
parliament. 

Look before one leaps. To : to take at 
least elementary precautions before 
entering on an undertaking. From 
the proverb, ‘ Look before you leap.* 
Look a gift-horse in the monui, To : to 
criticize a gift. In allusion to the 
usual method of judging a horse by 
examining its teeth. [Butler, Hu di- 
bras, I, i (1663)] 

Look for a nee^ in a bottle (bundle] of 
hay. To : to seek that which it is 
practically impossible to find. [Greene, 
Upstart Courtier (1592)] 


Look for trouble. To : unnecessarily to 
put oneself in a position where 
difficulties may arise. 

Look in. Not to have a : not to have a 
chance. 

Looking-glass to a mole, To hold a : see 
Hold. 

Look out, A bad : a bad prospect. 

Loose, Out on the : unrestrained in 
behaviour ; dissolute. 

Loose end. At a : see End. 

Loose fish, A : a person of loose habits, 
who has escaped from moral restraints, 
like a fish that has got loose from the 
net. 

Loose Girt Boy, The : Julius Caesar. 

Loose woman, A : a prostitute. 

Lord Burghleigh’s nod : a supposed 
indication of wisdom. After the nods 
vouchsaifed by Lord Burleigh instead of 
words in Sheridan, The Critic (1779). 

Lord of creation. The : man. [Genesis, 
i, 28-29] 

Lord fella in Our Lady’s lap. When Our : 
when Good Friday coincides with 
Lady Day. 

Lord Hiany ! By the : an oath sworn by 
Satan. See Harry, Old. 

Lord of Lies, The : the Devil. 

Lord of Mfyrn lft, The : the Abbot of 
Misrule {q.v.). 

Lord’s anoint^ The : the king. In 
allusion to the theory of the Divine 
Right of Kings. 

Los von Bom {Germ., free from Rome) : 
an Aust. religious political movement 
at the beginning of the 20th cent, to 
withdraw its members from adhesion 
to the Church of Rome so that the in- 
corporation of the Germ, parts of the 
Austrian Empire in the German 
Empire might thereby be facilitated. 

Lose in the hake, but gain in the herxing. 
To : to gain one way what one loses 
in another. Hakes drive herring 
away but should be caught in their 
place. 

Losing game. To play a : to be failing, 
but yet to continue on one*s course. 
[Peter Pindar, Bozzy and Piozci*'Pt, 

II (1796)] 

Loss, To be at a : to be unable to decide. 
[Jas. Puclde, The Club : Dear Kins- 
man (1711)] 

Lothario, A gay; Lothario, A: a 
fashionable and unscrupulous rake. 
After a character in Sir William 
Davenant, The Cruel Brother (1630). 

Lothbury, To go by way of : to be un- 
willing. A pun on loth. [i6th cent.] 



Lotus-eater] 


227 


[Lad’s 


IiOtas-eaier» A : in Grk. mythology one 
of a people (the followers of Ulysses) 
who ate of the lotus plant and were 
thereby rendered oblivious of their 
friends and home. Hence one who, 
careless of passing time and events, 
passes his life in idleness and pleasure. 

Load as a hog in a gate. As : ve^ noisy. 
Possibly in allusion to the noise made 
by a pig caught in such a predicament. 
[Goldsmith, Shs Stoops to Conquer, II, i 

(1773)] 

ItondasTomofldncoln, As: s^eTomof 
Lincoln. 

Louis d’or Louis of gold) : an obso- 
lete Fr. gold coin. Oiig. struck in the 
reign of Louis XIII. 

LooMana pnrdhase, The : the purchase 
of New Orleans and the neighbouring 
lands, now the state of Louisiana, 
from France in 1803, for 15,000,000 
dollars. 

Leap the dike^ To : see Dike-louper. 

Love-childf A : an illegitimate child. 

Love in a cottage : marriage on small or 
insufficient means. 

Love lost between . . There is no : they 
are objects of mutual dislike. The 
meaning of this phrase has chang^ 
entirely from its former sense. The 
change took place about 1748 when 
Richardson used it in both senses in 
Clarissa Hallow. [Ben J onson, Every 
Man Out of His Humour, II, i (1600}] 

Love or money* For: by any means 
possible. Lit. (to gain an end) either 
by the influence of aflection or by 
payment. [Dekker, The GuU*s Horn- 
booh, ch. 6 (1609]] 

Loringasadovc* As : doves are proverbi- 
ally devoted to their mates and as 
early as Chaucer * turtledove ’ was 
used as a term of endearment. 

Loving cap, A : a cup of wine that is 
passed round among the guests at the 
table after the meal. The practice is 
a Jewish one as old as the period of 
the New Testament. 

Low Ohurdh : the Evangelical brandi of 
the Church of England, whidh gives a 
low place to matters of ecclesiastical 
organisation, eta 

Low Ooontdea^ The : Holland, Belgium 
and Luxemburg, which are low- 
lying. 

Low-ooontiy men : soldiers. In allusion 
to the Eng. armies that fought in the 
Low Countries or Netherlands. [Bacon, 
Essays: Of Seditions and Troubles 

(1625)] 


Low Batch ; Low German : thelanguage 
spoken in the low-lying lands of 
Germany. 

Low Latin : the Latin of the Middle Ages. 

Low iffis : life among the poorer dasses. 

Low Sonday: the first Sunday after 
Easter. 

Low water, To be in : to be in financial 
straits. [17th cent.] 

Lower Hons^ The: the House of 
Commons. 

Lower Middle Glass, The : see Class. 

Loyale Epde, La (Fr,, the loyal sword : 
Marshal MacMahon (1808^5], Pre 
dent of the Fr. Repnblia 

Lubber’s hole : a lazy method of perform- 
ii^ a task. In aUusion to the name 
g^ven by seamen to a part of the 
rigging through which boys clamber in 
order to avefid the more dangerous 
coursa 

Lubbedand : ' Where the pigs run about 
ready roasted and cry, ^*Conie. eat 
me.' * So-caJIed because lubbers only 
believe in its existence. 

Luce LneeHnm, Ez : ex luce luceUum was 
the motto adopted by Robert Lowe 
(Viscount Sherbrooke) in 1871 for the 
new matdb-box for his proposed match 
tax, which was the subject of mudi 
press ridicule and never became law. 

LndliBr (Lot,, light-bringmg) : properly, 
the morning star. Through a mis- 
interpretation of Isaiah, xiv, xa, 
applied to Satan. 

Lnd&r, Asproadas: very haughty and 
overbearing. In allusion to Lucifer 
as an equivalent of Satan. In IsaicA, 
xiv, X2, the term was used in aUusioa 
to Nebuchadnezzar. [Barclay, Ship 
of Fools, II, 59 (1509); Strange 
Metamorphosis of Man (1634)] 

Luck of 8 nigger. The : see Nigger. 

Luck and throw him into the sea* To 
give a man: a lucky man is able to get 
safely out of any misfortune. 

Lucky star. To thank one’s: to feel 
grateful for one's good fortune. 
Astrological metaphor. 

LaouUns feasi^ A : a magnificent ban- 

? uet. From M. Ludnius Lucnllos 
1 . a 49 B.C.), Rom. coasTiI andepicura 
Luods a non luoendo : an absurd 
eaq)lanation. (Lat) a grove, from not 
showing light, implying the absurd 
etymology of lucus,iicm lucere, to 
be light. {The Spectator, No. 59 

(1711)3 

Lad’s BulwaA : Ludgate Prison. Eram. 
a mythical King Lnd. 



Lud’t] 

Lnd’a Town l London. After Lud, a 
mythic^ king of Britain, after whom 
one of the gates of the City was named, 
Lndgate. 

Luddites : rioters in the north of England 
who engaged in the deliberate destruc- 
tion of machinery during the years 
i8ii to i8i6. They took their name 
from a half-witted youth named Ned 
Ludd who set them the example. 

Liidgat(h)ian, A: a bankrupt. After 
the debtor's prison, formerly situated 
near Ludgate. 

Luke’s bird, As light as : heavy, St. Luke's 
* bird ' is usually represented as an ox. 

Luke’s summer, St : the end of autumn, 
Oct. 9th to Nov. nth. 

Lumber : (i) useless portable property ; 
(2) timber sawn for use. Orig, a 
pawnbroker’s shop or a pledge. After 
the Lombards, the medieval pawn- 
brokers. 

Lumber State, The : Maine. On account 
of its numerous forests. 

Lumping pennyworth, A : (dial.) plenty 
for one’s money. [Arbuthnot, History 
of John Bull, ch. 20 (1713)] 

Lxtnd^te, A : a traitor. After Robert 
Lundy, Protestant governor of London- 
derry in 1 68 9, who attempted to 
surrender the city to the Catholic 
besiegers. 

Lungs m London, The : London's parks 
and other open spaces. Phrase 
attributed to Lord Chatham by 
William Windham in a speech in the 
House of Commons (June 30th, 1808). 

Lurch, To leave in the ; to desert or leave 
in difSculties. A card-playing meta- 
phor. [Nashe, Saffron Walden, 119 
{1596)] 

Lmh : intoxicating drink. After 

Lushington, a brewer. 

Lustrum, A : a period of five years. 
Prom the Lustrum or Rom. festival 
of purification, which used to be 
celebrated every five years. 

Lus^-Juventus, A : a gay young man. 
Prom the title of an early morality 
play intended to illustrate the frailty 
of youth. Lat., juvenius, youth. 
['rricU of Treasure, IL 73-4 (1567)] 

Lusus Naturae [Lai., a sport of Nature) : 
a natural production which departs 
considerably from the standard; a 
freak of nature. 

Lutesftring, To speak in (Fr., lustrine, a 
glossy silk) : to speak in a stilted 
manner. First used ia The Letters of 
Junius (1769-72). 


228 [K under 

Lycaonian tables ; detestable food. In 
allusion to the human fiesh placed 
before Jupiter by Lycaon. 

Lyceum, A : a high school ; a literary 
institute. After the place in Greece at 
which Aristotle taught philosophy. 

Lycurgus, A : a legislator. After a 
Spartan who flourished in the 9th cent, 
B.C. and is the reputed author of the 
laws and institutions of Sparta. 

Lycnrgas’ State, A : see Lycurgus. 

Lyddite : a high explosive. From Lydd 
in Kent where it is manufactured. 

Lydford law : a trial in which the evi- 
dence is heard after judgment has been 
given. A satire on the people of Lyd- 
ford, Devon. See the proverb, 

* First hang and draw. 

Then hear the cause by lidford law,' 

Lydian airs : soft and light musical airs. 

[Milton. V Allegro, 11. 136-8 (1635)] 
Lying Traveller, : Sir John Maunde- 
ville (1300-72). On account of the 
marvellous adventures related by him. 
Lynceus’ eyed : see Lynx eyed. Ljmceus 
was one of the Argonauts, famous for 
the keenness of his vision. [Greene, 
Never Too Late (1590)] 
jDyndh, To : to execute without formal 
trial. See Lynch law. 

Lynch, Judge : see L3mch law. 
l^ch law : summary punishment of an 
offender without regular trial. Preva- 
lent in the Western States and after- 
wards in the Southern States of N. 
America. Derived from (i) Jas. L3mch 
of Piedmont, Virginia (fl. 1688) ; (2) 
John L3rach of Carolina (about the 
same date) ; and (3) Chas, Lynch of 
Virginia (1736-96). 

Lynx eyed : keen sighted, like the lynx. 
Possibly, however, a corruption of 
Lynceus' eyed [q.v.). 

Lyric poets. The : Pindar, Alcaeus. 
Sappho, Stesidorus, Ibycus, Bacchy- 
Hdes, Simonides, Aleman, Anacreon. 


M.B, waistcoa^ An : a clerical waistcoat 
opening behind or at the side. Orig. 
worn only by Tractarian clergymen. 
These being suspected of a tendency* 
towards Roman Catholicism, their 
opponents nicknamed the garment 
M,B., or Mark of the Beast, waistcoats. 
H or N : in the Church Catechism. 

M =* NN (names), N = naune, 

M under one’s girdle* To have an : to be 
polite in one's method of address. In 
allusion to the frequent use of the 



M’s] 229 [Sad 

titles, Mr., Mrs., Miss and Master. SacGiidle’s mare : the amount of her 
[^Haughton, A Woman WiU Have Her diet was gradually reduced to one straw 
Will (1597)] a day, when she incoj^deratdy died 

M’s, The Five : Mansa (flesh), Matsya and spoilt the interesting experiment, 
(fish), Mad3^ (wine), Maithuna jBcott, Wauerley (1814)] 

(women), Mudra (gesticulation). Five Maehiavdlian : unsOTpulous and crafty 
means of exercismg Hindu ascetic- in matters of politics. After Niccolo 
ism. Machiavelli (1469-1527)* ^orentine 

Mab, Queen : the fairies* midwife ; i.e., historian, statesman and plulosopher, 
the fairy whose function it is to deliver who laid down a Machiavellian policy 

the fancies of man and to produce in his book, Del Principe. 

dreams. First mentioned in Shakes- Machine, The : the organization of a 
peare, Romeo and Juliet, I, iv, 53-4 political pa^. First employed in 
(1 59 1-3). Previously known in Irish Amer. politics about 1876. 
poetry as the Queen of Connaught. Machines after the war is over. To bring 
Macaber (Macabre) dance : see Dance. one’s : see Bring. 

; to maoadamize : a specially Madkerel sky. A : a sky, spotted to 
prepared road-surface ; to construct a resemble a mackereL 
road of macadam. From John Mackintosh, A : a waterproof outer 

Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), the garment or waterproof material. After 
Scot, inventor. Chas. M aci n tosh (1766-1843), Scot. 

Macaiie, Robert ; a Frenchman. In inventor, 

allusion to the frequent use of the name Macreons, The Idaad of the : Great 

in the Fr. drama. Britain. According to Rabdais in 

Macaionio TAtin : invented hybrid Pantagruel, long-lived, for no one* is 
words, half modem, half Latin. there put to death for his religious 

like macaroni, a mixture. opinions. 

Macaronic verse : satiric and other verse Man Cavalier, The : Prince Rupert of 
written in invented words in a hybrid Bavaria (1619-82), Eng. royalist 

language with Latin terminations. general. On account of his foolhardy 

From a poetical rhapsody entitled rarimess. 

Liber Macaronicorum, by Thcophilus Mad as a hatter. As : properly, mad as an 
Folengo of Mantua (1491-1544). adder. ‘Mad* formerly represented 

Tn Aa.ng a medley. the idea of venomous. The phrase was 

Myjtftwwd os l fashionable dandies in therefore orig. the equivalent of 

•RTfg is yTiH during the latter ha lf of ' venomous as an adder.* Thw have 

the i8th cent. The term was intro- been several attempts to give the 

duced from the Continent where phrase a literal explanarion. In 

Macaroni dubs abounded. These were addition it has been derived from 

formed for the cultivation of Macaronic Fr., huttre, an oyster, from tiie Fr. 

verse (^.t?.). phrase, ‘ He reasons like an o^er.* 

Thc I a regiment, raised in The phrase, which became well known 

Maryland during the War of Indepen- as recently as about 1863, was popular- 

dence. In allusion to their gay ized by Lewis Carroll in Ahce in 

uniforms. Wofiderland (1865)- 

Maoaulay^s schoolboy : an imaginary Mad as a March hare. As : March is the 
schoolboy invented by Lord Ma^ulay rutting season among hares whidi are 

in his writings in order to illustrate the esp. wild then. [Heywood, Proverbes 

ignorance of his opponents. (1546)] The phrase as brainless as a 

Macaulay’s Row Zwiandcr: who will March hare * is found in 

at some future date ‘ take his stand on (15th cent.), ‘ as meny as a March 

a broken arch of London Bridge to hare ' in Skriton, Magnificance (1526), 

sketch the ruins of St. Paul's.* [On and as ' the mad March hare ' in 

RanAe^s Hisiwy of the Popes (1840)] Skelton, Reptycaiion Against Certayne 

Macedonia’s MajrfniftTi : see Madma-n. Yong Sealers (X520). 

MaoFarlanes’s boat : the moon. The Mad Fazliaxnesit, The : see Parliam^t. 

men of the MacFarlanc dan used to Mad Poeit, The; Nathanid (c. 

sally out at night to ravage the lands 1653-92), who wrote some of his be^ 

of their neighbours, Scot., buat, the poetry while confined in a lunatic 

moon. * asylum. 



[Maiden 


Madame] : 

Madame Veto : Marie Antoinette, who 
was believed to be largely responsible 
for her husband, Louis XVI’s, veto of 
the acts of the Legislative Assembly. 

Made man, A : a man whose good fortune 
is assured. [Marlowe, Doctor Fansius, 
IV, V (1604)] 

Madman, Macedonia’s : Alexander the 
Great {356-323 B.C.). 

Madman of the North, The : Charles XII 
of Sweden (1682-1718). 

Mseander : see Meander. 

Maecenas, A : a generous patron of art 
or letters. After Gaius Cilnus 
Maecenas (c. 73-8 B.C.), Rom. states- 
man and patron of letters, 

Maecenas, The last English : Samuel 
Rogers (1763-1855), poet and banker. 

Maeonian Swan, The : Homer, after 
Maeonia (now Smyrna), one of the 
cities that claimed to be his birthplace. 

Maffick, To ; A mafficker : to hold a 
riotous, unruly celebration of a victory 
or other joyful event. One who 
mafSicks. From Maf eking, in South 
Africa, whose relief in the S. African 
War led to unruly rejoicings in the 
streets of London (1900). The word 
was coined by the Pall Mall Ga^'ette 
(May 2 1st, 1900), 

Mag to bless oneself with. Not a : penni- 
less. Slang, mag, a halfpenny. 

Magdalen ; Magdalene, A : a repentant 
prostitute. After Mary Magdalene or 
of Magdala. [Matthew, xxvii, 56, etc] 

Magdalen Hospital, A : a place of deten- 
tion for fallen women. See Magdalen. 

Maggot bites, When the : when a strange 
idea seizes one. The idea was invented 
by Swift in The Mechanical Operation 
of the Spirit. 

Magician, The Great : Sir Walter Scott 
(1771-1832). So-called by Christopher 
North on account of the -wonderful 
attraction of his -writings. 

Magician of the North, The : (i) Johann 
Georg Hamann (1730-88), Germ, 
philosopher and theologian, so-called 
by himself ; (2) Sir Walter Scott. See 
Magician, The Great. 

Magna Carta of . . The : the charter of 
freedom of . . After Magna Charta 
(1215), the charter of the liberties of 
England 

Magnificat at Matins, To sing the : to act 
at the wrong time. The Magnificat 
{Lithe i, 46-55) is sung at Evensong. 

Magnum opus, A (Lat., a great work) : 
a masterpiece. [Jonathan Swift, Tale 
of a Tub (1704)] 


30 

Magog : see Gog. 

Mahogany, The : a dining-table. From 
the material of which it is generally 
constructed. [Dickens, Master 
Humphrey's Clock (1838-42)] 

Mahomet and the mountain : after the 
story told by Francis Bacon in his 
Essay : Of Boldness (1625). ' Mahomet 
made the people believe that he -would 
call a hill to him, and from the top of it 
offer up his prayers for the observers of 
his law. The people assembled. 
Mahomet called the hill to come to him, 
again and again ; and when the hill 
stood still he was never a vrhit 
abashed, but said, "If the hiU will not 
come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go 
to the hill." * 

Mahomet’s coffin : according to legend, 
hangs midway between heaven and 
earth. 

Mahomet’s pigeon ; trained to eat out of 
Mahomet's ear, believed by his 
followers to be a messenger from God. 

Mahomet’s tomb : see Mahomet's coffin. 

Maia’s son : the god, Hermes. 

Maid of an work, A : a general servant, 
generally of a low class. 

Maid of" Norway, The : Margaret 
(12S3-Q0}, Queen of Scotland, who 
came from Norway. 

Maid of Orleans, The : Joan of Arc 
(1412-31;, who led the Fr. forces in 
the relief of Orleans. 

Maid of Saragossa : Augustina Zara- 
gossa, who shared in the defence of 
Saragossa against the French in 1808-9. 

Maiden, The : (i) a sort of guillotine 
introduced into Scotland by the 
Regent, James Douglas, Earl of 
Morton, who was himself beheaded by 
it in 1581 ; (2) an instrument of torture 
in the shape of a woman which opened 
and enclosing the victim -within 
impaled him on spikes. 

Maiden : of a fortress that has never been 
taken by the enemy. 

Maiden Assize, A : an assize at which 
there are no prisoners to be tried. 

Maiden King, The : IMalcolm IV of 
Scotland (1141-65). On account of 
his gentle disposition. 

Maiden over, A : (cricket term) an over 
in -which no runs are scored. [Florio, 
Marcio (1598)] 

Maiden Queen, The : Elizabeth of Eng- 
land (1533-1603), who never married. 

Maiden Speech, A : the first speech 
delivered by a ^Member in Parliament. 
[Annual Register for 1794] 



Maiden] 231 

Maiden sword, A : a sword that has 
never been used in warfare. 

Maiden Town, The : Edinburgh, never 
captured after a siege. Also from the 
tradition that the maiden daughters 
of a Pictish king took refuge there. 

Mailed Fist, The : military power. From 
a phrase used by the Emp. William II 
of Germany in 1897 in connection 
with Chinese affairs. 

Main, The : the Spanish Main ; the 
msdnland of S. America between the 
Orinoco and the Isthmus of Panama ; 
also the neighbouring sea, the Carib- 
bean. 

Main chance, The : the most probable 
line to success. Metaphor drawn from 
the game of hazard. See also Chance. 

Main of cocks, A : a cock-fight. From 
the obsolete sense of main as match. 

Maine Law : a law prohibiting the sale 
of intoxicants, adopted by the State 
of Maine, U .S . A . , in 1 85 1 . The earliest 
alcohol prohibitory law in the U.S. 

Maires du Palais : the prime ministers. 
Lit., Mayors of the Palace, of the 
later Merovingian kings of France, 
who were the de facto rulers and 
ultimately in the person of Charles 
Martel obtained the throne. 

Majority, To join the : to die. In 

Anthol. PalcU,., ii, 42, appears 

the phrase tvr ay iKTjai eg TrXeoywy 
^d in Plautus, Trin, II, ii, 14, 

‘ penetrare ad plures,* in the same 
sense. The Roman Legionaries in 
Britain are said to have employed the 
phrase * abierunt ad mult os.* It 
appears fimt in Eng. literature in 

Young, Revenge, IV, i (1721). 

Make one’s bread. To : to earn one’s 
living. 

M^e bricks without straw. To : to 
perform one's task under very great 
difficulties. [Exodus, v, 7] 

Make clothes for fishes. To : to act 
foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Make both ends meet. To ; see Ends. 

Make a person’s hair curl. To : to 
astonish a person. 

M^e mountains out of molehills. To : 

to exaggerate difficulties. 

Make much of . . To : to show great 
consideration for .. [Easton Letters, 
No. 465 (1463)] 

Make ropes of sand, To : to act to no 
purpose. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 


Pdan 

Make it up. To : to become friendly again. 
[Sheridan, The Rivals, I, ii (1775)] 

Make a virtue of a necessity. To : 
[Chaucer, Knight* s Tale, 1 . 3044 (14th 
cent.) ; Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen 
of Verona (1590) ; Dryden, Palamon 
and Arcite (1699)] 

Make one’s way in the world. To : to 

succeed. 

Malade imaginaire, A {Fr,) : a person 
who imagines himself to be ill. From 
the title of one of Moli^re’s 
comedies. 

Malaprop, Mrs. ; Malapropism : a person 
who misuses words absurdly ; a 
ridiculous misuse of words. After 
Mrs. Malaprop a character in Sheridan, 
The Rivals (1775). 

Malice prepense : premeditated mzdice. 

Malignants : a name given to the 
Cavaliers by the Puritans during the 
Commonwealth. 

Mall of Italy, The : Hannibal (247-183 
B.C.). 

Mall supper, A : a harv^est feast. Ang.- 
Sax., moel, a feast. 

Malt above the meah With the : tipsy. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Maltese Cross, A : see Cross. 

Malthurian : relating to the school of 
thought which advocates small 
families. After Thomas Robert 
Malthus {1766-1834), Eng. political 
economist. 

Mamamouchi, A : a bufioon ; a mock 
title of consequence. After a mock- 
Turkish title conferred in Moli^re, 
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. 

Mamelukes, The : a military class 
forming part of the Turk, army in 
Egypt until they were massacred by 
Mehemet Ali in 1811, Previously 
from 1250 to 1517 they formed the 
ruling class, supplying the dynasty, 
in Egypt. The Mamelukes were 
descend^ from captives, taken by 
Genghis Khan in the middle of the 
13th cent, and sold by him as slaves in 
Eg>T)t. 

Mammon : the personification of worldli- 
ness and cupidity. From Mammon, 
the personification of riches, mentioned 
in Matthew and Luke. Syriac, 
mamona, riches. 

Mammon of Unrighteousness : money. 

[Luke, xvi, 9] 

Man of Beli^ A : an evil man. 
[II Samuel, xvi, 7] 

Mmi in black, A : a clergyman. From 
the colour of his clothing. 



JHta] »3» 


Sam of Wood, A : (i> a man guilty of 
bloodshed; (2) David; [II Samuel, xvi, 
($) Charles I, so-called by the 
ritans on account of the Civil War. 
yfan of blood and ii02i» The : see Blood 
and iron. 

f/tAn in bine* The : see Blue. 

Man in bucicraxn. The: an imaginary 
person. rShalcespeare, i Henry IV, 
II, iv (1596-7), for • four rogues in 
buckram ' invented by Falstaff.] 
pTftn of colour* A : see Colour. 
iffftn of December* The : Napoleon III. 
In allusion to his coup d*MaA of Decem- 
ber, 1851, He was also elected Presi- 
dent of the Ft. Republic in December, 
1848, and was made Emperor in 
December, 1852. 

Man of Desttoy, The : Napoleon I, who 
co n sjd ft'^^ the instrument of 

d^tiny. 

Man Friday* A : see Friday. 

Man of Gatilt A : an evil-doer ; a man 
of violence. From Gath, one of the 
Philistine cities. 

Mtt.n of iro&t A.I see Iron. 

Man in the iron The : see Iron 
mask. 

Mftn Jadk* Every : every individual. 
From Jack, the generic term for an 
ordinary man. 

Watt of A : see Kent, Men of. 

The late : Charles I of England. 
So-called by the Eng. Puritans after 
his execution. 

Man of letters* A : an author, esp. one 
who devotes himself to literature. 
WftTt of - • To make a : to put a male 
person on the road to success, [Greene, 
LiberalHyandProdigalhy, III, ii (1602)] 
of metUe, A : a man of courage. 
[Life and Death of Captain Thomas 
Stukeley, 11, 165-6 (1605)] 

Mo-n in momi* The : (i) a fancied 
resemblance to a man's face to be 
seen at times in the moon; (2) an 
imaginary personage, esp. one who 
provides fmds at eleven times. 
[Lilly, Endimioii, the Man the 
Moone: Prologue (1591)] 

San of motley, A : see Motley. 

TWfa.n of parts* A : a man of capacity. 

[Farquhar, The Stagecoach (1704)] 
via Gf the People, The: Charles 
James Fox (1749-1806), Eng. states- 
man. 

San* To play the : to possess and display 
manly qualities. [Udall, Ralph 
Roister Bolster, W, vii, 7 (1550)] 
S^oTremnanis, A : atailor. 


Man of Rome, The : the Pope. 

Man of Boss. The : John Kyrle (1637- 
1724), Eng. philanthropist, immortal- 
ized by Pope in his Moral Essays, Ep. 
Ill (I733-5)- 

Man of salt, A : a man who cries salt 
tears. [Shakespeare, King Lear, IV, 
vi (1605-6)3 

Man of Sedan, The : Napoleon III, who 
surrendered to the Germans at Sedan 
in 1870. So-called by Gambetta. 

Man of ffllgnee, The : Napoleon III. 

Man of Sin, The : [II Thessalonians, ii, 
3] (i) according to the Roman 

Catholics, Anti-Christ; {2) according 
to the Puritans, the Pope ; (3) 

according to the Fifth Monardhy 
Men, Oliver Cromwdl ; {4) the 

deviL 

Man of straw, A : a person of nmther 
means nor position who has not h i n g to 
lose and is therefore not worth pro- 
ceeding against in the civil courts, A 
man of straw is usually used as a cover 
in proceedings of doubtful l^;ality to 
shield the real author of the proceed- 
ings. There used to be a class of 
persons who attended the I^w Courts, 
when at Westminster, and were pre- 
pared to give evidence in any cause to 
any effect for a consideration. To 
indicate their profession they displayed 
wisps of straw in their shoes. 
[Return from Parti assus, I, i, 231 
{1599) ; Wycherley, Country Life, IV, 

The: the average man 
who has no source of information 
regarding current events beyond the 
newspapers, as compared with the 
man in the dub. [Macaulay, Essay 
on Souihey*s CoUoqvies on Society Qan. 
1830) ; The GreviUe Memoirs (March 
22nd, 1831)] 

Man of the Tldrd Bepnblio, The: 
Napoleon III. According to Leon 
Gambetta. 

Man about town, A : a man of pleasure. 
[17th cent.] 

Man of valour, A mighty : a great soldier. 
A biblical term applied to successful 
soldiers. [Ji^dges, vi, 12, etc.] 

Mart of wa:^ A : a modd man, as if 
&shioned in wax. [Shakespeare, 
Romeo and Juliet, I, iii (1591-3)] 

Man of whipoc^ A : a coachman. 

Manofthe woods* A: a gorilla. 

Man of his word* A : a person who is to 
be trusted, i,e,, who keeps his word. 
[Wily Beguiled, 1. 1027 (1606)] 



233 


Man] 

Man of the world, A : (i) a inaii who is 
expert in worldly anairs ; (2) an 
irreligious man. 

{Span,, to-morrow) : the 

crystallization of the precept, * Never 
do to-day what you can manage to 
postpone until to-morrow/ 

Manchester of America, The : Lowell, 
Mass. On account of its cotton mills. 

Manchester of Belgium, The : Ghent. 

Manchester goods : cotton fabrics. After 
Manchester, the centre of the Eng. 
cotton industry. 

Manchester of Japan, The : Osaka. 

Manchester line, In the : in the soft 
goods business. After Ma,nchester, 
the centre of the cotton trade, 

Manchester Martyrs, The : Allen, Larkin, 
and O’Brien, who were executed in 
1867 for the murder of a policeman at 
Manchester while attempting the 
rescue of Fenian prisoners. 

Manchester Massacre, The : a fatal riot 
in St. Peter's Fields, near Manchester, 
in 1819, when the military attempted 
to arrest some of the speakers at a 
Reform meeting. Also known as 
Peterloo, in travesty of the Battle of 
Waterloo. 

Manchester of Prussia, The : Elberfeld. 

Manchester poet. The : Charles Swain 
(1801-74L 

Manchester School, The: the political 
school of Laissez Faire {q.v.), with 
headquarters in Manchester, which 
was instrumentai in securing the adop- 
tion of Free Trade by Britain. The 
term is said to have been coined by 
Benjamin Disraeli. 

Manchettes de Buffon, Les : an ornate 
literary style. In allusion to the lace 
ruffles hal3itually worn by the Fr. 
naturalist and philosopher, George, Ct. 
de Buffon (1707-88). Fr., manchette, 
ruffle. 

MftTiifariTi, To MU one’s : to desire the 
death of another person. In allusion 
to the question put by Jean Jacques 
Rousseau (i 7 1 2-78) whether if one had 
the power of merely by an effort of 
wiU and without any risk of detection 
of killing an unknown Chinese man- 
darin with great advantage to oneself, 
one would do so. 

Manderille, A : one who exaggerates 
grossly. After Sir John Mandeville 
(1300-72), a traveller of questionable 
veracity. 

Mandrabid’s offiKciug, Like : Mandrabul, 
having discovered a gold mine, made 


[Mare 

an annual thank-offering to Juno, the 
value of which became every year less 
and after a few years ceased altogether. 

Mandrake, To have eaten the : to be very 
indolent. In allusion to the supposed 
stupefying qualities of the mandrake. 

Manes, To appease a person’s : to act 

after a person's death in the manner 
he would have wished if he had still 
been living, .^mong the Romans the 
manes was the spirit of the departed. 

Orders : excessive severity. 
After the capital punishment inflicted 
by Manlius Torquatus (fl. 352 B.C.), 
the Rom.- consul, on his son for an 
offence that could almost be justified. 

Manoa : the fabled capital of El Dorado 
(q.v.)., a city whose streets were paved 
with gold. 

Mantalini, A : a lazy, elegant man who 
allows his wife to support him. From 
a character in Dickens, Nicholas 
Nickleby (1838). Also a man-milliner ; 
same derivation. 

Mantle, To assume the : see Assume. 
Mantu^ Swan (Swain) (Bard), The : 
Virgil, a native of Mantua. 

Marah (Heb., bitter) : bitterness. From 
a bitter spring in the Peninsula of Sinai. 

Ma r ah) Waters of : see Marah. 

; a curse. From anathema 
maranatha in I Cor., xvi, 22 (Syriac). 

Maranno, A : see Marranos. 

March : the third month of the year. 
After Mars, the god of war. 

March ale (beer) : a kind of ale, brewed 
as a rule in the month of March, which 
takes two years to mature. 

March of events. The : the succession of 
events. 

March hare, As mad as a : see Mad. 

March on .. To steal a: to get an 
advantage of stealthily. 

March with the times. To : to show 
adaptability to circumstances as they 
develop. 

Marchin^on wake-cake. As short as : 
(used of a woman's temper) from the 
famous short cake made at Marching- 
ton, Staflordshire. A wake-cake is a 
cake connected with a local festival. 

Mardi Gras [Fr., Fat Tuesday) : Shrove 
Tuesday, 

Mare dansum (Lat., a closed sea) : a 
sea, such as the Black Sea, under the 
practical jurisdiction of one or a small 
number of powers. The opposite of 
mare liberum, a free or open sea. 

Mare or lose the halter, To win the : to play 
for a great prize or an overwhelming loss. 



Mare’s] 234 

Mare’s nest, A : an imaginary discovery 
that brings ridicule on the finder, as 
would that of the nest of a mare. 
[Beaumont and Fletcher, Bonduca, V, 
ii (1647)] 

Mareotic luxury : extreme luxury. In 
allusion to the white grapes, the 
favourite of Cleopatra, produced on 
the Arva Mareotica or shores of Lake 
Moeris. 

Margarine substitute^ A : an imitation, 
just as margarine is imitation butter. 

Mariage de conveaance, A (Fr., a 
marriage of convenience) : a marriage 
arising out of avarice or ambition 
instead of love. [Thackeray, New- 
comes^ I (1854)] 

Marine, The Female : Hannah Snell 
(1723-92) of Worcester, who fought in 
the attack on Pondiche^y^ 

Marines, To tell to the : of a story or 
statement that does not car^ con- 
viction. From the reputation ^ for 
gullability that the marines obtained 
among seamen. 

Marionette, A : a puppet, acting on the 
motion of another; a figure in a 
puppet show. Lit., Little Mary in 
allusion to the small figures of the 
Virgin Mary in It, puppet shows. 

Mark, Beside’CWide of) the : out of the 
direct line. A metaphor drawn from 
shooting. [Stafford, Pacata Hibernia^ 1 
I, V, 71 {1633)] ^ ^ I 

Mark of the Beast, The : a denunciation, | 
esp. as unorthodox. [Revelations , xvi, 2] | 

Mark, To make one’s : to attain success j 
in life. To make ‘ one’s mark ’ on the | 
page of history. ^ ^ j 

Mark 1 Save the i an ironical exclama- ! 
tion. Orig. an archery term. [Shakes- | 
peare, i Henrv IV, I, iii, 5b (i597)] I 

Mark Tapley, A : a person who retains j 
his good humour in the most adverse ; 
circumstances. From a character in j 
Dickens, Marlin Chuzzlewit (1843). \ 

Mayk time, To : to take no action pending j 
a favourable opportunity. Military j 
drill metaphor. ; 

Mark, Up to the : iu average good health | 
or spirits. 

Marlin Tower, As high as : the tower of 
the Church of St. Mary Magdalen at 
Taunton. 

Maroon, To : to put ashore on a desert 
island. From Maroons iq.v.), slaves 
who lied from civilization. 

Maroons : fugitive slaves in the West 
Indies and South America, who became 
outlaws. After the Morony River in 


[Martin 

Guiana in the neighbourhood of which 
large numbers of these slaves took 
refuge. 

Marplot, A : a person who interferes 
harmfully in an undertaking. After 
a character in Mrs. Centlivre, Busie 
Body (1709). 

Marguis, The Great : see Great Marquis. 

Marranos [Span., accursed ; from Mara- 
natha) : Span, and Portuguese Jews, 
nominally Christians, but secret!}^ 
obeying Jewish customs so far as they 
couid. Their conversion, or that of 
their ancestors, to Christianity, was 
directly or indirectly forced. 

Marriage of the Adriatic, The : see 
Adriatic. 

Marriage of convenience, A : see Mariage 
de convenance. 

Marriage h la mode {Fr,, marriage in 
accordance with fashion) ; a marriage 
arranged entirely in accordance with 
the dictates of fashion. See Hogarth’s 
painting of this title (1743)* 

Marrow Controversy, The : the struggle 
in Scotland between Puritanism and 
Presbyterianism. In allusion to The 
Marrow of Modern Divinity which was 
condemned by the General Assembly 
in 1720. 

Marrow-bones, On one’s : on one’s knees. 
[More, Confiitacyon of TyndaWs 
Answere (1532)] 

Marry, Punch’s advice to those about to : 

see Punch’s. 

Mars of Portugal, The : Alfonso de 
Albuquerque (1452-1515), Viceroy of 
India. After Mars, the Roman god of 
war. 

Mars Year, The : 1715, that of the first 
Jacobite invasion. 

Marseillaise, The : the song of the French 
Revolution. After Marseilles, whose 
inhabitants marching on Paris first 
sang it. 

Marsh City, The : Petrograd, which is 
built on low-lying land intersected by 
streams of water and always liable to 
be flooded. 

Ma. rgh a.1 Forwards : see Forwards. 

Martin of Cambray, Girt like : absurdly 
clad. In allusion to the costume of the 
figure of Martin in the great clock of 
Cambray. 

Martin chain, A : an imitation gold 
chain. From St. Martin-le- Grand, 
London, where artificial jewellery was 
formerly made. 

Martin drunk : a degree of drunkenness. 
After Martin, the monkey, in the fable 



Martin] 235 

of Reynard the Fox ; or from the 
coincidence of St. Martin’s Day (nth 
November) and the Festival of 
Bacchus. 

Martin Marprelate : the pseudonym of a 
Puritan pamphleteer or body of 
pamphleteers at the end of the i6th 
cent. 

Martin’s summer, St. : fine weather 
about St. Martin’s Day (Nov. iithl. 

Martinet, A : a strict disciplinarian. 
After the Marquis de Martinet, an 
officer in the army of Louis XIV 
(d. 1672). 

Martinmas : The Feast of St. Martin, 
Nov. nth. 

Martinmas beef : the meat of an ox 
salted at Martinmas, or the Feast of 
St. Martin (Nov. nth). 

Martyr King, The : Charles I of England 
who was executed by his subjects. 

ISIartyr to Science, A : a person who dies 
or suffers in the cause of science. 
Claude Louis, Count BerthoUet (1748- 
1822), ’ The Martyr to Science,' died 
of an experiment on himself of the 
efiect of carbolic acid on the human 
frame. 

Marvellous Boy, The : Thomas Chatter- 
ton (1752-70), Eng. poet and literary 
forger. 

Mary Ambree, A : see Ambree. 

Mary Anne, A : a guillotine. See Mary 
Anne Association. 

Mary Anne Association, A : a secret 
republican association in France in the 
time of Henri IV. Revaillac was 
inspired to assassinate the king by 
reading Mariana, De Rege et Regio 
Instihitione. 

Mary, Bloody : see Bloody. 

Mary, Little : see Little Mar>'. 

Mary-mas : the 25th of March ; Lady 
Day ; the Feast of the Annunciation 
of the Virgin Mary. 

Mascot(te), A : a charm ; a source of 
good fortune. After E. Audran's 
opera. La Mascotie (1883). Previously 
the word was dialect in Provence and 
Gascony. It is supposed to be derived 
from masqitS, mask^ or concealed, and 
to be equivalent to * bom with a caul,' 
which is popularly believed to be lucky. 

Mask, To throw off the : to disclose one's 
intentions. 

Mask, To wear a : to conceal one's 
motives. 

Masochism : the tendency to carry 
pleasure so far that it becomes pain, a 
fascination thus being created for 


[Maundy 

inflicting pain on oneself. From 
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-95), 
Austrian-Germ. novelist, who depicted 
this form of cruelty. 

Mason and Dixon’s Line : the boundary 
between Maryland and Pennsylvania 
which became later the boundary 
between the slave and the free states, 
drawn in 1763-7 by Charles Mason 
and Jeremiah Dixon. 

Massacre of the Innocents, The: the 
announcement by the Leader of the 
House of Commons towards the end of 
a session of the measures with which 
it is not proposed to proceed further. 
The phrase was first so applied in 1859. 

Masses and Glasses : see Classes. 

Mast, To serve before the : to be a 
common sailor whose quarters are in 
the forepart of the vessel, before the 
mast. 

Master Leonard : a chief of the demons. 

Master of Love, The : Ovid (B.C. 43- 
A.D. 17). So-called by R. Bentley. 

Master of the Mint, The : (pun) a 
gardener. 

Master of Prussia, The : the Grand- 
Master of the Teutonic Order. 

Master of the Bolls, The : (pun) a baker, 
[H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny (1641)] 

Mister of the Sentences, The : Peter 
Lombard (c. 1100-64), It. schoolman 
and bishop of Paris. In allusion to 
his work. The Four Books of Sentences. 

Master of Stories, IHie : Petrus 
Comestor (d. 1198). From his work, 
Hisioria Scholastica. 

Master of the Temple, The : the Grand- 
Master of the Knights Templar; the 
clergyman attach^ to the Temple 
Church, London. 

Master ofthose who knew, The : Aristotle 
(384-322 B.C.), the most famous of 
Grk. philosophers, according to Dante. 

Mater Dolorosa {Lot., sorrowing mother) : 
a name for the \"irgin Mary. 

Mathnrin, The malady of St. : stupidly. 
After St. Mathurin, the patron saint 
of idiots. 

Maudlin : silly through intoxication. 
After Mary Magdalene (pronounced 
Maudien), who is depicted by painters 
with her eyes red with weeping. 

Maunds, Royal : a royal charity, 
bestowed on Maundy Thursday. From 
maund, a basket. 

Maundy, To make one’s : to distribute 
one's charity as a duty. 

Maundy money : money given by the 
reigning sovereign to the poor on 



Uuuid^F] 


236 


[Hodiatiied 


Itlanzidy Thursday, the day before 
Good Friday. From mandatum 
namim {John, xiii, 34), ^e new 
fy>i7iTn fiTiHm ftnt g[iven by Christ when 
washing the feet of the disciples. Also 
from the maund (Ang.-Sax.), basket, 
in which the were carried. 

yranwiiiy Thursday : see Manndy money. 

A s a magnificent tomb. 
After that of Mausolns, King of Caria, 
who died 353 B.C. 

Uanvais CL^iait d^henro* tin {Fr., a bad 
quarter of an hour) : an unpleasant 
interview of not v«ry long duration. 
The phrase is attributed to I/)uis XIII 
of France in reference to the execution 
of the Marquis de Cinq-Mars, formerly 
a favourite of the King. 

Manvais Vn {Ft., a bad subject) : 
an undesirable person. 

Kanvaise honte (Fr., false shame) : 
[Lord Chesterfield. Letters, I, No. 79 

(1746)1 

May : the fifth month of the year. After 
Maia, the mother of Mercury, whoso 
festival fell on the first day of tiie 
month. 

May Bishop : (in derision) a titular 
bishop. In allusion to the May Day 
masquerades. 

Mfty Day : May ist. Form, a people s 
festival of spring, now a red-letter day 
of Labour. 

May and December : a young wife and 
an old husband. Chaucer has a poem 
on this theme entitled January and 
May. [Sir W. Raleigh, Shepherd, 
What Is Love ? (1600)] 

May HBl, To have dimbed: to have 
passed the most dangerous period of 
the year. ^ , 

iiTtty Mbetingi: meetings of lehgious 
societies held in Ixmdon in or about the 
month of May every year. Hence a 
meeting of a religious organization. 

May. Quein (Lady) of the : a girl treated 
as Queen in the May games. 

May-game of . . To mika a : to n^e a 
laughing-stock of • . In allusicm ^to 
the merry-making and foolery of which 
the May games consisted. 

Mayor of Banbury. As wise as the ; see 
Wise. 

Mayor offhePalaee : see Maires du Palais, 
ass. To swell out like the • in 
allusion to the story of an ass in a 
medieval Jewish legend. 

Meadow. To pave the : see Pave. 

Meal or malt. To pay in: to pay directly 
or indirectiy ; in one way or anoth^. 


Monday : a holiday at Scottish 
Universities. Orig. instituted to en- 
able students to go home and fetch 
sufiSdent meal to last until the end of 
the session. ^4. i. 

Meal of salt. A : a meal so slight as to 
be practically no meal at all. 

Mean business. To : to engage oneself 
seriously in an afiair. 

Mean Whites. The : the poorer class of 
white men in the southern states of the 
Amer. Union and in Soutii Africa. 
Meander. To: to wander along leisurdy, 
turning and twisting at frequent 
intervals. After the Maeander, a 
proverbially crooked river in Phrygia. 
Measure oth^ peopled com hy one's 
owzEbndid,To : to judge other people 
by one’s own standard. . , 

Measure of one's foot. To take the : to 
guess at a person’s character. An 
allusion to ' Ex pede Hcxculem ' (q.u.). 
Measure one's leusth. To : to fall head- 
long on the ground. [Shakespeare, 
Midsiemmer Night* s Dream, III, ii, 
429 (1590)] . . 

Measure swords. To : to enter mto a 
contest with. Lit., the preparatory 
step in a duel. [Shakespeare, *4s You 
Like It, V, iv (i^)] 

Measure the wind. To : Wmd. 

Meat from the graves. To carry off: to be 
extremely poor, so poor as to steal tiie 
remnants of the feasts celebrated by 
the Grks, and Rcanans in honour of the 
dead, which remnants used to be left 
to regale the ghosts of the departed. 
Mecca. A: the object of one’s pious 
exertions. From Mecca in Arabia, the 
Holy City of the Moslems. 
Meecasoffhemind: the object to which 
one’s most distant hopes are directed. 
From Mecca, the Holy City of Islam. 
[Fitz-Greene Halleck, Bums (1827)] 
Medea's KetCie (Cauldron} : in which the 
old were boiled again into youth. 
Medea was a mythological sorceress. 

and Perrians. Laws of the : laws 
that cannot be repealed or modified. 
IDaniel, vi, 12] t n • * 

yoiafim ; unchanging. In allusion to 
the laws of the Medes which were said 
not to be liable to modification. 

gtoneb The : which cured blind- 
ness. 

Mediatized Princes: rulers of the sm^er 
Germ, states who had been depriv^ 
of their sovereign rights, when their 
dominions were merged with those of 
more importaat neighbours. 



Media] 237 [Merciless 


Media, A via {Lai.) : a middle course. 

Medidnal days : the sixth, eighth and 
other days of the progress of a disease 
on which, according to Hippocrates, 
no crisis can occur and medicine can 
be taken with safety. 

Medicine, The Father of : see Father. 

Mediev^ Haw and Heart, The : scholasti- 
cism and mysticism, which existed in 
the Middle Ages, side by side, distinct 
but yet not hostile. 

Mediterranean, The Hey of the : 
Gibraltar, which commands the 
entrance to the Sea. 

Me^ as a meacock. As : a ' meacock * 
is a z6th cent, word, denoting an 
effeminate person. [R. B., Appiits 
and Virginia, 1. 162 (1563)] 

Meek as Moses, As : very patient and 
mild-mannered. In allusion to the 
proverbial character of the Hebrew 
patriarch. Moses. 

Mm a difficnlty (troubles) halfway, To : 
to worry over a trouble in advance of 
its arrival. 

M^ of Westminster, As long as : excep- 
tionally tall. Meg of Westminster 
was a famous virago of the i6th cent., 
to whom allusion is frequently made in 
Elizabethan literature. In 1582 her 
Life was published as a penny story- 
book; in 1594 Long Meg of West- 
minster was first performed. [Fuller, 
Worthies, II, 413 (1662)] 

Megarian, As wise as a : stupid. In 
allusion to the Megaiians, a people of 
ancient Greece who were proverbial 
for their stupidity. 

Meissonier-like exactness: after Jean 
Louis Ernest Meissonier {1815-91), 
Fr. painter. 

Meistersingers : wandering German 

minstrels of the 14th to i6th cents. 

Melancholy as Fleet Street in the long 
Vacation, As : in allusion to the legal 
vacation when the chambers near 
Fleet Street are unoccupied. [Dekker, 
Northward Ho. (1607)] 

Melancholy as a hare^ As : according to 
the medieval belief that the flesh of 
the hare induced melancholy. [Shakes- 
peare, I Henry IV, I, ii (i59^7)3 

Melancholy Jacques : Jean Jacques 
Rousseau (1712-78). After a charac- 
ter in Sh^espe^e, As You Like It 
(1600). 

Melancholy as the man in the moon. As ; 

melancholy in the former sense of mad. 
In allusion to the suppled influence 
of the moon over lunatics. [1609] 


Melibean ; MelibcBan : of verse (i) 
pastoral; (2) alternately responsive. 
After a personage who sings the 
responses in Virgil's first Eclogue. 

Mehboean dye : a purple dye. After the 
Syrian island of Melibcea, whence it 
was obtained. 

Mell supper, A : a harvest supper. 

Mellifluous Doctor, The : St. Bernard 
of Clairvaux (1091-1153). 

Mating Pot, The : the United States, in 
which immigrants from all nations and 
races are fused into one new nation. 
First applied in this sense by Israel 
Zangwill, in the title of one of his 
plays (1908). 

Melting tribe, The : poets. [The 
Spectator, No. 377 (1712)] 

Memento moii {Lat., remember to die) : 
a warning or reminder of deaA. 
[Nashe, Summer* s Last Will (1592)] 

Memnonian : giving forth music when 
touched by the dawn. After the 
alleged property of a statue believed 
to be that of Memnon at Thebes in 
Egyp>t. 

Memory, The Bard of : Samuel Rogers 
(1762-1855), who wrote The Pleasures 
of Memory (1792). 

Men of Lawn : bishops of the Church of 
England. In allusion to their official 
attire. 

Men of La Vieille Boche : see Roche. 

Men of light and lea^g : the leaders of 
opinion. [Burke, Reflections on the 
Revolution in France, III, 331 
(1790)] 

Mene Tekd: a warning of impending 
doom. From the words mysteriously 
written on the wall of Baalshazzaris 
palace. [Daniel, v, 25, 26] 

M^eohmians : two or more people very 
similar to one another in appearance. 
After the Menoechmi of Plautus. 

Mentor, A : a wise and faithful coun- 
cillor. From the name of the coun- 
cillor of Telemachus and fnend of 
Ulysses. 

: fiendish ; crafty. 

After Mephistopheles, one of the 
names of Satan. 

Merchant of eel skins, To become a : to 
be drowned. [Ascham, Xoxophilus, 
Bk. II '(1545)1 

Merchant Venturers (Adventurers) ; a 
guild of merchants of Brabant origin 
who were granted privileges in England 
by Henry VII and Elizabeth. 

Parliament, The : see Parlia- 
ment, The Marvellous. 



Mercurial] 33S 

Mercuiial : volatile ; changeable ; like 
the god Mercury, the messenger of 
the gods. 

Mercury fig> A : a first fruit or first 
production. The first fig gathered 
from a fig tree was devoted by the 
Romans to Mercury. 

Mereutio of Actors, The : William 
Thomas Lewis (1748-1811). After a 
character in Shakespeare, Romeo and 
Juliet (1591). 

Merlin, The English : William Lilly 
(1602-81), the astrologer who assumed 
the name of ‘ Merlinus Anglicus.’ After 
Merlin, the legendary’ Welsh bard and 
musician. 

Merops, A son of : a conceited individual 
whose schemes end in failure. From 
Phaeton, the son of Merops, who 
attempting to drive the car of Phoebus 
almost set the world on fire. 

Meroz, Curse of : [Judges, v, 23] 

Menie (Merry) England : properly. 
Illustrious England. Ang.-Sax., 
moera, famous. 

T&srzs Andrew, A ; see Andrew. 

Merry as a cricket. As : the cricket, 
according to W. Jardine (Naturalist's 
Library), brings good luck. [Heywood 
Proverbes (i 546) ; G. Harvey, New 
Letter of Notable Contents (1593)] 

Mer^ Dancers, The : the Northern 
Lights. In allusion to their apparent 
waving motion. 

Merry as the day is long. As : [Shakes- 
peare, King John, IV, i, 18 (1595)] 

Merry as a grasshopper, As : in allusion 
to the agility of grasshoppers. 

Merry as a Greek, Ks : see Greek. 

Merry Greek, A : a drunkard. See Greek, 

As merry as a and Grig, As merry as a. 
[Udall, Ralph Roister Doister (1550); 
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, I, 
ii (1606) ; Ben Jonson, New Inn, II, 
ii (1630)] 

Merry as a grig, As : see Grig. 

Merry as maids. As : lighthearted. 
[Melbancke, Philotimus, 467 (1583)] 

Merry as a marriage-beQ, As : [Byron, 
Childe Harold, III, 21 {1816)] 

Merry Monarch, The: Charles II of 
England. Famous for his wit and 
good humour. 

M^rry as a pie, As : a pie is a magpie. 
[Chaucer, Shipm, Tale, 209 (14th 
cent.) ; Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Merry as a popinjay. As : in allusion to 
the jay, decked with many colours, 
which was used as a target in archery, 
or to ' Captam Popinjay ' or * The 


[Methuen 

Captain of the Popinjay,’ the victor 
in the archery contests. [Chaucer, 
Shipmaster* s Tale cent.)] 

Mersenne, The English : John Collins 
(1625-83), mathematician. Marin 
Mersenne (1588-1648) was a Fr. mathe- 
matician, scholar and miscellaneous 
writer. 

Mervonsness : nervousness regarding 
Russian threats against the Indian 
Empire, especially about the year 1883, 
when the Russians ocupied Merv in 
Central Asia. W’ord coined by the 8th 
Duke of Argyll (1823-1900). 

Mesmerize, To ; Mesmerism : to hypno- 
tize ; hypnotism. After Friedrich 
Anthony Mesmer (1733-1815), a Germ, 
physician. 

M^opotamia ring. The true : something 
high-sounding and pleasing but yet 
indefinite. In allusion to the pro- 
verbial old lady who told her pastor 
that * she found great support in that 
comfortable [but to her vague] word 
Mesopotamia.’ 

Mess of pottage, To sell one’s Inrthiight 
f or a : to exchange something of 
permanent value for a temporary 
pleasure. From the transaction 
between Esau and Jacob recorded in 
Genesis, xxv. 

Messalina of Germany, The : Barbara of 
Cilley, wife of the Emperor Sigismund 
( 1 5th cent.) . Valeria Messalina, wife of 
theEmperorCIaudius(ioB.C.-54A.D.), 
was notorious on account of her vices. 

Messalina, The Modem : Catherine II of 
Russia {1729-1796). On account of 
her cruelty and vice. 

Metaphysical School of Poets, The : 
Donne, Cowley and others. So-called 
by Dr. Johnson on account of their 
fantastic language and literary style, 

Metheglyn, As sweet as : metheglyn is a 
beer made of honey, brewed in Wales 
and the neighbouring counties. [Pals- 
grave’s Trans, of W. Graphaens, 
Acolastus, R 4 (1540)] 

Method in one’s madness : a reason for 
apparently strange behaviour. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlei, II, ii (1602-3)] 

Blethodists : members of the religious 
sect founded by John Wesley (1738). 
In allusion to the methodical manner 
in which they observed their principles. 
The name was first applied by a 
student of Christ Church, Oxford. 

Methuen Treaty, The : a commercial 
treaty between England and Portugal 
negotiated in 1703 by Paul Methuen. 



Methagelali] 


239 


[Milan 


Methuselah, A : a person of great age. 
After the longest-lived personage 
mentioned in the Bible, who is reputed 
to have lived 969 years. 

Metonic Cycle, The : a lunar period of 
nineteen years. Discovered by Meton 
in 432 B.C. 

Metropolis of Humidity, The : the brain. 
[Sir Thos. Browne, Hydrotaphia, III 
(1658)] 

Meum and Tuum {Lai., mine and thine) : 
an expression of the rights of property. 
[Bacon, Henry VII (1622)] 

IHcawher, A : an impecunious, well- 
intentioned individual, always waiting 
* for something to turn up.' After a 
character in Dickens, David Copper- 
field (1849). 

Michael (Michel) : the Germ, peasant. 

Michael Angelo of Battle Scenes, The : 
Michael Angelo Cerquozzi (1600-60), 
It. painter of battle scenes. Michael 
Angelo Buonarotti (1474-1564) was 
one of the greatest of It. artists. 

Michael Angelo of France, The : Jean 
Cousin (1500-90). 

Michael Angelo of Music, The : Johann 
Christoph von Gluck (1714-87), Germ, 
musical composer. 

Michael Angelo of Sculptors, The : (i) 
Pierre Puget (1623-94), Fr. sculptor ; 
(2) R6ne Michael Slodtz (1705-64), 
Fr. sculptor. 

Michaelmas Day : 29th Sept., the festival 
of St. Michael and All Angels. 

Michel : see Michael. 

Microcosm, The : man as the epitome of 
the universe. 

Midas, A ; Midas-like : from the legend 
of Midas, King of Phrygia, to whom 
wais given the supposed boon of turning 
to gold everything he touched. He was 
also endow^ with ass's ears by Apollo 
for failure to appreciate his music. 

Midas, The touch of : the touch which 
turns everything to gold. From the 
gift of Dionysus to Midas, a legendary 
king of Phrygia. See Midas. 

Midas-eared : without discrimination or 
judgment. See IMidas. 

Middle Ages, The : the period of chron- 
ology ranging roughly from the fall of 
the Rom. Empire in 476 to the capture 
of Constantinople by the Turks in 
1 453- The earlier portion of the period 
until about the year 1200 is known as 
the Dark Ages (q.v.). 

Middle Class, ^e ; see Class. 

Middle Kmgdom, The : China. Either 
in allusion to the belief of the Chinese 


that their country is situated in the 
middle of the world, or from the 
situation of the Chinese royal domains 
in feudal times in the midst of the 
other states of the Empire. 

Middle States, The : New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
(sometimes) Maryland, which lie 
between the New England states and 
the Southern States. 

Middle Western States, The : West 
Virginia, Kentucky, Tenessee, Missouri, 
Kansas and Arkansas. 

Midnight Appointments : (Amer. politics) 
appointments made by an adminis- 
tration at the end of its term of ofiStce. 

Midnight oil. To bum the : to work late 
at night. [First half of the 17th 
cent.] 

Midnight oil. To smell of the : of literary 
work, written obviously with great 
pains. See Midnight oil. To bum the. 

Midnight Sun, The : the sun visible 
throughout the night during a portion 
of the summer in the Arctic regions. 

Midsummer Ale : a festival held at 
Midsummer. 

Midsummer madness : extreme mad- 
ness. Apparently from the rabies 
supposed to be esp. prevalent about 
midsummer. [Shakespeare, Mid- 
summer Night’s Dream, III, iv 
(1590-1)] 

Midsummer, To have but a mile to : to be 
slightly out of one's mind. See Mid- 
summer madness. 

Midsummer moon zxiadn^: see Mid- 
summer madness. The Midsummer 
moon is the lunar month in which 


Midsummer Day falls. 

Midwife of men’s thoughts. The : (i) 
Socrates (469-399 B.C.), so-called by 
himself ; (2) Queen Mab of the fairies. 

Midwife of men’s thoughts. To play the : 
to edit a book which has not previously 
been published. [Ed. Blount, Intro- 
duction to Earle, Microcosmography 
(1628)] 

Midwife of the Muses, The : a printer's 
devil. [Foote, The Author, I, i (1757)] 

Might and main. With : with all one's 
energies. \The World and the Child, 
II. 195”^ (1522)] 

Mighty Hunter, The : Nimrod. {Genesis, 


X, 9] 

Mighty man of valour, A : 


see Man of 


valour. 


MCan Decree, The : a decree blockading 
British ports issued by Napoleon at 
Milan in 1807. 



lliloih-ioow] ^40 [Hmem’i 


SBIdL**COW» A : a source from whicb gain 
is regularly and easily obtained, like 
milk from a cow. Q. Wheeler, 
Treatise of Commerce, 40 (1601)] 

UHd as a dove. As : from the proverbial 
gentleness of the dove. [Shakespeare, 
Passionate Pilgrim (1589)] 

IQlesiaii &hle (swry), A : a short, witty 
but obscene story. From the collec- 
tion of such stories made by Aristides 
(and cent. B.C.). which were very 
popular among the Milesians. 

Bepublic, The ! Ireland. After 
the two sons of Milesius, King of 
Spain, who are said to have conquered 
the country in the 13th cent. B.C. 

The : the Irish. After 

Milesius, a legendary King of Spain, 
whose sons are said to have conquered 
Ireland in 1300 B.C. 
mik and honey, A land flowing with : 
a land of plenty and prosperity. From 
a biblical description of Canaan in 
Exodus, iii, 8, etc. 

MSTk of Human kindnesB, The: com- 
passion and kindness. [Shakespeare, 
Macbeth, I, v, 18 (1605-6), 
wBik again. To kidk down all one’s : to 
spoil the good work that one has 
performed. In allusion to the 

proverbial cow that gave a good bucket 
of milk and then kicked it oyer. fl^^T 
grew, The Parson*s Weddhg, IV, ii 

5663)] 

WRlir the maricet. To : so to manipulate 
the financial market as to have it 
completely under control. 

Uffnir and water : weak, tastel^s, power- 
less. milk diluted with water. 

Milksop, A: an efieminate boy or 
youth ; compared with apiece of bread 
soaked or sopped in milk. [35'^ 
Report, Dept Keeper of the Records, 
App, 17 (c. 1250)3 

HfftThy Way, : a broad band across 
the sl^ formed of myriads of stars. 
Kll Boy of The The : Hairy 

day (1777-1852), Amw. statesman 
and orator, who early in life attended a 
mill situated in a district known as 
‘ The Slashes.* 

ICll, To bring gxist to the : tobeasource 
of profit. [AylifEe, Parergon (1726)] 
iffiii. To go throni^ the : to undei^o a 
severe course of disdpline, training 
or experience. 

Miller, To drown the : to add an excessive 
amount of water to spirits, dough, etc. 
From the proverb, * Too much water 
drowned the miller.* An Americanism. 


Illllor, A Joe : see Joe Miller. 

MQIeir’s eye out; To put the : to use too 
much water in cooking, esp. a pudding 
or thick soup. 

IMlIinery of Bibllogiaphy, The: fine 
bindings, illustrations, etc., of books. 
So-called by Sir Herbert Maxwell 

idlf^n^Tolobk (see)intoa: to fathom 
a secret. [Hej^wood, Proverbes (1546)] 
Millstone, To look through a : to be shai^ 
sighted. [Lyly, Euphues and Ilis 
E^^gland (1580)] 

Millstrae about one’s neck. To have a : 
to be weighed down by a heavy 
burden. [MaUhew, xviii, 6 ] 
HQIstones, To weep : not to we^ at all. 

[Shakespeare, Richard III, I, iii (1594)] 
M&’s end : eaten by wolves while 
caught by the hand in a tree whose 
trunk he was attempting to rend 
asunder. 

MBo, To eairy a bull with : from the 
legend of Milo, the athlete of Crotona, 
who carried a four-year-old heifer 
across the stadium of Olympia. 
HUiou, The Anglo-Saxon: Caedmon 
(fl. 670). After John Milton, Eng. 
epic poet (1608-74), 

Milto of (tomany. The: Friedrich 
Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803). So- 
called by Coleridge. 

Milton, A Xante inglorious : a poet un- 
conscious of his gift, to whom has 
never come the opportunity of d^ver- 
ing his message. [Gray, Elegy in a 
Country Churchyard, 15 (1751)] 

ICnoe matters. Not to : to speak plainly 
to ^e point. [Swift, 7 he Beast* s 
Confession (1732)] 

ICnoemeat of . . To make : utterly to 
destroy; to cut to pieces. [Cowley, 
Cutter CoUnan (1663)] 
iHSnii, To speak one’s : to say plainly 
what one thinks. [Earle, Microcos- 
mography : A Blunt Man {1628)] 
litTiflMi Boys, The: the 20th Re^ of 
Foot, which distinguished itsdf at the 
Battle of Minden (Aug. ist, 1759). 
Miniia, To be of two : see Two. 

MhLetva, In spite of : contrary to one's 
natural indination. In aUusion to 
Minerva, the Rom. goddess of wisdom. 
Minerva Pim: ultra-sentimaitalnovds, 
of ^e character of those issued from 
the Minerva Press, London, at the 
beginning of the 19th cent. 

Minerva’s bird : the owl, which appears 
in representations of Minerva, the 
goddess of wisdom. 



Ministdre] 

Bliiiisi^re de Trois Jours, La : the 
Ministry of Three Days ; that of the 
Due de Bassano in France in 1834. 

Ministry of All the Talents, The : Lord 
Grenville’s ministry of 1806, consisting 
of a coalition of the leading men of all 
parties. It included Fox, Erskine, 
Fitzwilliam. EUenborougb, and Sid- 
mouth. 

Minor Prophets, The : (i) Hosea, Joel, 
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, 
Habakkuk, Zephauiah, Haggai, 
Zechariah, Malachi ; (2I their writ- 

ings. 

Mint, A : a place where money is coined. 
After Moneta or Juno in whose temple 
in Rome a mint was established. 

Mint of money, A : a large amount of 
money. [Miia Edgeworth, Cattle 
Rackrent (1799)] 

SflSnnte Men : the Massachusetts militia, 
formed on the outbreak of the Amer. 
Revolution, who undertook to be 
ready for service at a minute's notice. 

Miraheau of the Mob, The : Georges 
Jacques Danton (1759-94)- After the 
Ct. de Mirabeau (1749-91), the Fr. 
Revolutionist leader. 

Mirabile dictu (Lat., wonderful to relate) : 
[Virgil, Georgies, II, 30] 

Miracle of Nature, The: Christina, Queen 
of Sweden (1626-89). 

Mirror up to Nature, To hold the : the 
function of the actor, according to 
Shakespeare, HamUt, III, ii (1602-3). 

Misrule, liord (Abbot) of : see Abbot. 

Migg Nancyism : eEeminacy. 

TffiggiTig link. The : the one point lacking 
to confirm a theory. Esp. the species 
required to connect man with the 
highest of the lower animals. 

ISGssissippi Bubble (Scheme), The : a Fr. 
-hna-rLcial speculation based on a 
Mississippi concession, instituted by 
John Law, which ended in a panic in 
1720. 

Missouri Compromise, The: the U.S. 
Congress Act of 1821 prohibiting 
slavery north of 36® 30', the northern 
boundary of Missouri. The Act settled 
a controversy that had raged around 
the admission of IMissouri into the 
Union. 

Mistress of the Adriatic, The : Venice. 
In allusion to her former commercial 
importance as a centre of trade 
between Europe and the East. 

Mistress Roper : a marine. In allusion 
to the ropes which he handles clumsily 
on board ship. { 


241 [Moguls 

Mistress of the World, The: Ancient 
Rome. 

Mitchelstown, Remember: the watch- 
word of the Irish Land Leaguem. In 
the course of a political riot at Mitchels- 
town, Co. Cork, in August, 1887, the 
police &ed upon the crowd and several 
were killed. 

Mithridatism : artificially induced im- 
munity from poison. After Mithri- 
dates Eupator, King of Pontus, who is 
said to have inadvertently rendered 
himself immune from poison. Term 
invented by E. Ray Laukester in 
Nature, June 13th, 1889. 
Mittel-Europa : the doctrine of an 
economic union between the Germ, 
and Aust. empires. 

Mitten, To give the : to jilt. From Lat., 
mittere, to send, or from the mitaines 
formerly presented in France to an 
unsuccessful wooer. An Americanism, 
of Fr. -Canadian origin. 

Mixed Company : a company consist- 
ing of members of difierent social 
grades. 

Mob, The : the crowd ; the lower classes. 
First used by the members of the Green 
Ribbon Club in the reign of Charles II. 
[Lat., moUle {vulgus), the fickle 
(crowd)] 

Mob, King : see King. 

Mobtown : Baltimore. In allusion to 
the reputation for lawlessness acquired 
by a section of its inhabitants. 
Mock-beggar Hall (Manor) : a poyer^- 
stricken mansion where no hospitality 
is practised ; a mansion fine without 
but neglected within. 

Mode, k la : see k la mode. 

Mode, All toe : temporarily fashionable. 
[Evelyn (1664)] 

Modem Athens, The: (i) Edinburgh; 

(2) Boston, U.S. A. 

Modem Babylon, The : London. 

Modem Caitoage, The : London. 
Modem Graodhus, The : see Gracchus. 
Mods : at Oxford, Moderations ; the 
first public examination by ' Modera- 
tors ' for the B.A. degree. 

Modus operandi (Lat., manner of 
operating) : the manner in wMch a 
person sets to work. [R. Whitlock, 
Zootomia, p. 222 (1654)] 

Modus Vivendi (Lat., manner of living) : 
a working arrangement between two 
parties. 

Moghul, The Great : see Cham. 

Moguls : the best class of playing cards. 
In allusion to the design of the Great 

R 



Hohair] 242 [BSonsienx 

Mogul which, used to appear on their I Momus’ lattice (window) : the window 


backs. 

Mohair, The Men of: the citizens of 
France. 

Mohammed : see also Mahomet. 

Mohammed, To dine with ; see Dine. 

Mohock, A : an Eng. aristocratic hooli- 
gan of the 1 8th cent. A corruption of 
Mohawk, the name of a N. Amer.-Ind. 
tribe. 

Mole, To hold a looking-glass to a : see 
Hold. 

Moline, The Italian : Carlo Goldoni 
(1707-93). Jean Baptiste Moliere, 
famous Fr. dramatist, lived from 1622 
to 1673. 

Moliere, The Spanish : Leandro 
Fernandez Moratin (1760-1828). 

Molinism : quietism. After Miguel 
Molinos (c. 1640-97), the founder of the 
Movement. 

Moll Cu^uise, A : a woman of thorough- 
ly vicious character. After Mary Frith, 
nicknamed Moll Cutpurse (1589-1664). 

Moll Thomson’s mark : (of a bottle) 
empty (M. T.). The initial letters of 
Moll Thomson. 

MoHy Coddle, A : a milksop or pampered 
person. From Molly, a diminutive of 
Mary, and coddle. 

Molly fellow, A : an effeminate man or 
boy. From Molly, a diminutive of 
Mary. 

MoDy Maguires, The : members of the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish 
politico-friendly society. In 1843 an 
Irish agrarian society, ' The Molly 
Maguires,’ was formed for the purpose 
of refusing pa3mient of rent. They 
took their name-' from Cornelius 
Maguire, an Irish leader in the 
Rebellion of 1641. The designation 
' Molly ’ referred to their practice of 
dressing as women when engaged in 
their raids. From 1867 to 1877 an 
Irish secret society of the same name 
operated in Pennsylvania with the 
object of gaining control of the State 
government by means of intimida- 
tion. 

Moloch : a Palestinian idol, to which its 
worshippers used to sacrifice their 
children. Hence an evil to which 
people are willing to sacrifice either 
their own or other’s welfare. 

Mome ; Momus, A ; a querulous, fault- 
finding person. From Momus, the 
carping god. 

Momus, Daughter (Disciple) (Son) of: 

a bufioon. See Mome. 


that Momus (q.v.), suggested to Zeus 
should have been inserted in the 
breast of the man he created. 

Monday, Black : (i) Easter Monday ; 
(2) (school slang) the Monday opening 
a new term. 

Monday, Fat : the day before Shrove 
Tuesday. 

Monday, Saint : Monday as a day of 
idleness among workingmen. 

Money, To see the colour of one’s : to be 
shown one’s money. Of a person con- 
cerning whose trustworthiness there is 
doubt. [Fielding, Tom Jones, V, 8 

(1749)] 

Money on . .To put one’s : to trust in ; 
to be prepared to risk something as a 
pledge of confidence in . . A betting 
metaphor. 

Money out of a shoestring. To make : to 
make money without the advantage 
of preliminary capital. 

Mong]^ Parliament, The : see Parlia- 
ment, Mongrel. 

Monk Lewis : Matthew Gregory Lewis 
(1775-1818), author of Aml^osio or 
The Monk (1795). 

Monkey sitting on one’s shoulder. To 
have the black : to be in a bad 
temper. 

Monkey np. To get one’s : to become 
enraged. From monkey as a synonym 
for the devil. 

Monkey’s allowance : illtreatment ; more 
kicks than halfpence. In allusion to 
the ill-treatment of performing 
monkeys. 

Monkey’s money : service. From the 
Fr. law permitting a performing 
monkey to cross the Petit Pont at 
Paris without other payment than the 
performance of his tricks. 

Monmouth cap, A : a soldier’s or sailor’s 
cap. Possibly from James, Duke of 
Monmouth (1649-85). 

Monnaie de Basoche : worthless coin. 
From money with limited currency 
coined and circulated by the Clercs de 
la basoche, judges, lawyers, etc., of 
France. 

Monroe Doctrine, The ; Monroism : the 
doctrine laid down in a message to 
Congress by President James Monroe 
in 1823 that none but Amer. powers 
were to intervene in the affairs of the 
Amer. Continent. 

Monsieur : Philippe, Duke of Orleans 
(1674-1723), brother of Louis XIV. 

Monsieur de Paris : the Fr. executioner. 



Monsieur] 243 [Morbleu 

Monsieur V^to : Louis XVI of France cheese, eaten green and fresh. [Hey- 
{i 754 ”^ 3 )* ill allusion to his right to wood, Proverbes (1546)] 
veto the acts of the Legislative Mooa, The Island of the : Madagascar. 
Assembly. Moon, To level at the: to be over- 

Monster, The Green-eyed : jealousy. ambitious. 

[Shakespeare, Othallo, III, iii (1604)] Moon, Man in the : see Man. 

Mont dePiet6, A (Fr., mountain of piety): Moon, Minions of the; Moon’s men: 
a Fr. pawnbroker's shop. Originally nightwatchmen ; thieves. [Shakes- 
established as charitable institutions. peare, i Henry IV, I, ii (1596-7)] 
Montague and Capulet : rival parties, esp. Moon, To shoot the : to leave a house by 
in society. From the names of the night in order to avoid payment of the 

two rivi families in Shakespeare, rent due. 

Romeo and Juliet (i 59 i-- 3 )- Moonhght flitting, A : see Moon, To 

Montem : an Eton school festival. From shoot the. 
the procession ad montem {Lat., to the Moonlighters : an Irish agrarian secret 
mound) on Whit Tuesday. society (1881 et seq,), guilty of many 

Montessori Method, The : a method of outrages at night. The orders issued 

education introduced by Maria by the Society were signed * Captain 
Montessori, It. teacher (20th cent.). Moonlight.* 

Montezuma’s Realm : Mexico. After Moonraker, A ; a man of Wiltshire. In 

Montezuma, the last native emperor. allusion to the silliness related of the 

Month of Sundays, A : an indefinitely people of that county who attempted 
long period. or pretended to attempt to rake the 

Month’s mind, A : a great desire. Orig. refiection of the moon out of a 

a service held once a month in memory pond. 

of a deceased person. ‘ By saying Moonshine, All : nonsense ; as unsub- 

that they have a month's mind to a stantial as moonshine. [Gabriel 

thing, they undoubtedly mean that, if Harvey, Piercers Supererogation (1593)] 

they had what they so much longed for Moonshine, Bottled : (i) "illicit spirit, 

it would do them as much good as they moonlight being a convenience for 

believe a month's mind," or service smuggling ; (2) a utopian scheme of 

in the church said once a month, would benevolence. [A. BirreU, Obiter Dicta 
benefit their souls after their decease.' (1885)] 

According to another suggestion, the Moonsferack : mentally deranged. In 
allusion is to a woman's longing during allusion to the supposed influence of 
the first month of pregnancy. [Shakes- the moon over the human mind, 
peare, J'wo Gentlemen of Ve>'ona, I, ii Moot point, A : a disputable point. 

(1590)] From to moot, to discuss a point of 

Monumental City, The : Baltimore. In law as an exercise. Ang.-Sax., 

allusion to its numerous churches and motian, to debate. [Thos. Hughes* 

other public buildings. Misfortunes of Arthur, Introduction 

Moon, To hark at the : see Bark. (1587)] 

Moon, To cast beyond the : (i) to calcu- Moral or adorn a tale. To point a : to 
late deeply ; (2) to be ambitious ; (3) give force to a moral precept, 

to attempt impossibilities. [Hey- [Samuel Johnson, Vanity of Human 

wood, Proverbes {1546)] Wishes (1749)] 

Moon, To cry for the : to desire the un- Moral certify, A : a practical certainty 
attainable. From the practice of which cannot however be proved by 

some children of crying for the means of reason. [Letter by Earl of 

moon. Glamorgan (1645) ; Burd. Issach., II 

Moon, To find an elephant in the : to 276 (1646)] 
hoax oneself ; to discover a mare's Moral victory, A : a defeat or an inde- 
nest. In allusion to the story of Sir cisive result, calculated to give the 

Paul Neal (17th cent.) who claimed to moral results of a victory. [Alison, 

have discovered an elephant in the History of Europe, ly {18^2)] 

moon but afterwards found that a Moravians : a Prot. sect, originating in 
mouse had crept into his telescope. Bohemia and Moravia in the i6th 

Moon is made of green (cream) cheese, cent, and expelled thence in 1627. 

To believe that fire : to believe in an Moxblen ! : a Fr. oath. Corruption of 
absurdity. A green cheese is a cream Mori de Dieu, death of God. 



Morbns] 2-44 [Mother 


Morbus GaUicns French disease) : 
an illness due to the practice of 
immorality. 

Morbus Neapolitanus (L<U,, Neapolitan 
illness) : morbus Gallicus {q.v.). 

Mordiea ! : Morbleu [q.v.). 

More than ha’pence : more pain 
than pleasure. An allusion to the 
treatment of performing monkeys. 

More ScoticOft To answer : to answer one 
question by asking another. [Scott, 
The Abbot, ch. 26 (1820)] 

Blorey letter, A : a forged letter intended 
to exercise influence in an election. 
The original Morey letter purported to 
be addressed by Pres. James Garfield 
to H. L. Morey, an alleged considerable 
employer of labour, but an imaginary 
personage, on the eve of the Presi- 
dential election of 1880. It advocated 
the free admission of Chinese labour. 

Morganatic marriage, A : a marriage in 
which one party, generally the wife, is 
of lower degree, and she and her 
children are not entitled to inherit or 
to share the other party *s dignities. 

Morganize, To : to assassinate secretly 
in order to suppress information, as 
was said to have been done in the case 
of William Morgan in the U.S. in 
1S26. 

Mor^y : a sword. After the sword of 
Sir Bevis, in the Arthurian legends. 

Moritnii te salutant [Lat., We, about to 
die, salute thee) : the cry with which 
the gladiators in the Rom. arena used 
to greet the Emperor before entering 
on the contest. 

Motley, Mrs. ; see Mrs. Morley, 

Motning Star of the Beformatioxi, The : 

John Wyclifie (1324-84). 

Morocco meo. i agents for lotteries. 

Morpheus, In the arms of: asleep. 
Morpheus was the Rom. god of dreams. 

ynrrifl dancc, A : an Eng. folk dance. 
Orig. introduced from Spain, where it 
was of Moorish origin. 

Mortal coil. To shuffle off this : to die. 
rShakespeare, Hamlet, III, i (1602-3)] 

Mortarboard, A : the peculiar cap worn 
by members of a university. From its 
resemblance to a board used by brick- 
layers for holding mortar. 

Morton’s Poik (Cratch) : the scheme for 
raising money devised by Archbp. 
John Morton {1410-1500). He ob- 
tained contributions from the rich on 
the ground of their wealth, and from 
others on account of their alleged 
thriftiness. 


Moscow, To be one’s : to be the turning 
point of fortune. In allusion to 
Napoleon’s march to and retreat from 
Moscow in 1812. [Byron, Don Juan, 

XI, 56 (1823)] ^ 

Moses’ horns : Exodus, xxxiv, 30, is 
translated in the Vulgate * and his face 
was homed,’ as compared with * the 
skin of his face shone* in the A.V. 
In Lat. rays of light were called 
horns. 

Moses to Moses there was none like 
Moses, From : said of Moses, the law- 
giver, and (i) Moses Maimonides (i 135- 
1204), Span. Jewish philosopher; (2) 
Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), Germ. 
Jewish philosopher ; and (3) Sir Moses 
Montefiore (1784-1885), Eng. Jewish 
philanthropist. 

Moses’ rod : a divining rod. In allusion 
to the rod with which Moses performed 
his miracles. 

Mossbacks : the extreme conservative 
branch of the Dem. party in the 
U.S. From the popular name of the 
snapping turtle. 

Mosse took his mare. Napping, as : see 
Napping. 

Mossurooper, A : a freebooter. From 
the bands of these criminals who used 
to infest the ’ mosses * of the Scot. 
Border. 

Most Christian Doctor, The : (i) John 
Charlier de Gerson (1363-1429), Fr. 
theologian and philosopher ; (2) 

Nicholas de Cusa (1401-^4), Germ, 
cardinal, theologian and philosopher. 

Most Christian Eingdom, The : France. 

Most Learned Fool in Christendom, The : 

see Learned Fool. 

Mot d’Ordre [Fr.) : word of command. 

Mote and beam : see Beam. 

Motiier Ann ; Ann Lee {1736-84), head 
of the Shakers. 

Mother of Befievers, The : Ayesha, the 
second wife of Mahomet. 

Mother of Books, The : Alexandria, 
formerly famous for its great librmy, 
entirely destroyed under Theophilus, 
A.D. 391. 

Motoer Carey is plucking her geese: it is 
snowing. See next entry. 

Mother C^y’s chickens : stormy petrels. 
Mother C^ey is a corruption of Mater 
Cara, dear mother. 

Mother Carey’s goose : the black petrel. 

Mother Church, The : the principal 
chnich of a parish, city, country, etc. 

Mother of Cities, The : Balkh, in 
Turkestan. 



Mother] 245 

Mother Country, The : one’s native 
country ; a country in relation to its 
colonies. 

Mother of dreams, The : the earth. In 
allusion to the idea of the classical 
poets that dreams originated in Hades, 
i.e,, the recesses of the earth. 

Mother of the gods, The : Cybele. 

Mother of the Ghracchi, The : one who so 
educates her sons as to fit them for an 
honourable and noble career. In 
allusion to Cornelia, the mother of 
Caius and Tiberius Gracchus, Rom. 
Tribunes of the 2nd cent. B.C. 

Mother and Head of all Churches, The : 
the church of St. John Lateran of 
Rome. 

Mother Hubbard : a woman’s cloak. 
From the name of the heroine of a 
nursery rhyme. 

Mother for a maid. To take one's : to be 
exceptionally simple. 

Mother of Months, The : the moon. 

Mother of Parliaments, The : the Eng. 
parliament. S o-called by J ohn Bright, 
orator and statesman (Jan. i8th, 1865). 

Mother of pearl : the inner surface of an 
oyster’s shell in which pearls are found. 

Mother of Presidents, The ; Virginia, 
from which state six of the Presidents 
of the XJ.S. came. 

Mother of all the Russian cities. The: 

Kiev, which encloses the oldest 
cathedral in the Russian Empire. 

Mother Shipton : the reputed author of 
Mother Shipton’s Prophecies current 
• in England in the 15th and later cents. 

Mother of South-Western Statesmen, 
The : the state of Tennessee. From 
the number of statesmen it has 
produced. 

Mother of States, The : Virginia. Either 
as the oldest of the N. Amer. colonies 
or because five other states — 
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 
West Virginia — separated from her at 
one time or another. 

Mother wit : natural wit ; common 
sense. [Capgrave, Life of St, 
KatheriKe, V (1440)] 

Mother's blessing, To have too much of 
his : to be excessively prudish for a 
youth. 

Mothraing Sunday : the fourth Sunday 
in Lent. Also known as Refreshment 
Sunday and Simnel Sunday, Mother- 
ing is supposed to have been orig. a 
visiting of the Mother Church. After- 
wards it took the form of taking gifts 
to one’s mother. 


[Move 

Motley, To go in : to behave as a mounte- 
bank. From the dress worn by 
professional fools. 

Motley, Men of : fools. From the 
costume, variegated (motley), worn by 
professional fools. [Shakespeare, As 
Yon Like It, II, vii (1600)] 

Mound City, The : St. Louis, which was 
built on several artificial mounds. 

Mountain, The : the Jacobins or followers 
of Robespierre and Danton, the ex- 
treme revolutionists in France. From 
the upper seats which the party 
occupied in the Legislative Assembly. 

Mountain dew : Irish whiskey. In 
allusion to the practice of illicit 
distilling in the mountains. 

Mountain in labour brought forth a 
mouse : small results of great efiorts. 
Saying of Agesilaus II, King of Sparta 
(c. 444-361 B.C.). [Horace, Ars 
Poeiica, 1 . 136-9] 

Mountain Men : the Cameron High- 
landers. 

Mountain out of a molehill. To make a : 
to exaggerate a difSculty. Phrase 
said to have been coined by Henry 
Ellis (1777-1869), Original Letters, 2nd 
Series, p. 312, hut see Gabriel Harvey, 
Letter-hook (1573). 

Mountain, The Old Man of the : Imaum 
Hassan ben Sabbah el Homairi (d. 
1174), Chief of the Assassins (q.v,), 
who lived in the mountains of Syria. 

Mountains, To raise : to tell exaggerated 
stories. [Bunyan, Hofy War, To the 
Reader, 11 . 13-6 (1682)] 

Mountebank, A : an antic fool. Orig. a 
travelling quack doctor who used to 
mount on banks or benches at fairs in 
order to advertise his skill. [Sir P. 
Sidney, Defence of Poesie, Pt. II 

(1595)] 

Mouse, As poor as a church : see Poor. 

Mout^ To laugh on the wrong side of 
the : to be sorry when pleasure was 
anticipated. Formerly to laugh in an 
obviously forced manner. [Scott, Rob 
Roy, ch. 37 (1818)] 

Mouth water. To make a person's : to 
arouse a person's expectation of 
pleasure. [Petronius, Satyricon, ch. 
48 ; Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Moutons, Revenons k nos {Fr., Let us 
return to our sheep) : to return to the 
original subject. Quotation from the 
play VAvocat Patelin by Blanchet. 

Move the previous question. To ; a con- 
venient parliamentary method of 
avoiding a decision. 



M 023 ttt] 246 

Mozart, The English ; Sir Henry Bishop 
(1780-1855). Wolfgang Amadeus 
Mozart, famous Germ, musical com- 
poser, lived from 1756-91. 

Mozart, The Italian: Cherubini (1760- 

1842). 

Mrs, Grundy: see Grundy. 

Mrs. Gummidge, A : * a lone, lorn 
creetur ' who is always lamenting the 
past. From a character in Dickens, 
David Copperfield (1849). 

2£rs. Leo Hunter : see Hunter. 

Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman : Queen 
Anne and Sarah Jennings, Duchess of 
Marlborough. Names assumed in 
their private correspondence. 

Mrs. PaHington : the personification of 
impotent prejudice. From a person- 
age invented hy Sydney Smith in a 
speech at Taunton in 1831, who at a 
time of storm and high tide took out 
her mop in order to svreep away the 
Atlantic, 

Much as one’s life is worth. As : involving 
great risk to one’s life. 

Much of a muchness ; practically no 
difierence. 

Mud, To throw (sling) ; to abuse. 

Mudlarks, The : the Royal Engineers. 

Muff, A : a simple person, easily imposed 
upon. In allusion to the dandies in 
the 17th and i8th cents, who, carrying 
muffs, were unable to defend them- 
selves if attacked by street 
bullies. 

Mufti, In : in civil attire ; out of uniform. 
Apparently in allusion to the dress of 
a mufti or Mohammedan expounder 
of the law. 

Mug, A ; a face. In allnsion to the 
portraits of celebrities that appeared 
on beer-house mugs during the 17th 
and 18th cents. 

Mugwump, A : a member of parliament 
or other legislative assembly who 
attaches himself to no party. Orig. a 
member of the Republican Party in the 
U.S. in 1884 who declined to vote for 
the party nominee for the Presidency. 
From -an Algonquin word meaning ' a 
chief.' This use of the word was 
introduced by the New York Sun 
(June 15, 18S4). 

Mugwump Press, The : independent 
organs of opinion. So-called by party 
men. See Mugwump. 

Mule, To shoe one’s : to misappropriate 
money held in trust. A Fr. idiom 
supposed to have been derived from 
the pretence that the money was 


[Muse 

expended on shoeing the mule, 
[Hisiory of Franc ion (1655)] 

Mulligan Letters : letters sent by James 
G. Blaine, which came improperly into 
the possession of a clerk named Mulli- 
gan. They were used to discredit 
Blaine in his candidature for the 
Amer. presidency (1884). 

Multitude, Hydra-headed: see Hydra- 
headed. 

Multum in parvo {Lat., much in little) : 
valuable material occupying small 
space 

Mum’s the word ! : Be silent ! From 
mum, the sound made when the lips 
are kept closed. [Farqnhar, The 
Stage-coach (1704)] 

Mumbo-jumho : an object of super- 
stitious worship ; supposed name of an 
African idol invoked by Central Afri- 
can natives to frighten their women. 
[Peter Pindar, Epistle to the Pope 

(1793)] 

Mumping Day : St. Thomas* Day (Dec. 
2 1st). In Herefordshire a day for 
begging. From mump, to beg. 

Mumpsimus : an error, which the holder 
refuses to abandon. From the stor}’’ of 
a monk who always used mumpsimus 
in place of the Lat. sumpsimus and 
when his error was pointed out to him 
replied that he had been taught and he 
proposed to continue to use that word. 

Miinchhausen (Munchausen), A Baron : 
a romancing traveller. In allusion to 
Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von 
Munchhausen (1720-97), a Germ, 
soldier in the Russian service whose 
adventures, narrated by Rudolph 
Erich Raspe, were too wonderful for 
credence. 

Mundane Egg, The : the egg from which 
the world was hatched according to 
the Phoenician, Egyptian, Hindu and 
Japanese theologies. 

Murray, To dine with St. Giles and the 
Earl of : see Dine. 

Muscadhi, A (Fr,, a dandy) : a member 
of the moderate party in the first Fr. 
Revolution, mostly young men of the 
upper middle class. In allusion to 
their dress. 

Muscular Christianity : the religious 
school whose doctrines are laid down 
in the writings of Charles Kingsley 
(1819-75) — earnest Christianity com- 
bined with the cultivation of all clean 
pleasures. 

Muse, The Tenth : (i) Marie Lejars de 
Goumay (1566-1645), Fr. wTiter ; (2) 



Muses] 247 

Antoinette Deshouli^res (1633-94), Fr. 
writer ; (3) Magdalen de Scuderi 

(1607-1701), Fr. romancist ; (4) 

Delphine Gay (1804-55), Fr. novelist 
and dramatist. 

Muses, Tlie : the nine goddesses who 
preside over the arts : Calliope (elo- 
quence and epic poetry), Clio (history), 
Erato (erotic poetry), Euterpe (lyrics, 
music), Melpomene (tragedy), Poly- 
hymnia (singing and rhetoric), Terpsi- 
chore (dancing), Thalia (pastoral and 
comic poetry), Urania (astronomy). 

Museum, A Walidiig : Dionysius Cassius 
Longinus (213-273), Grk. philosopher 
and rhetorician. 

Mushroom : something of sudden growth 
and therefore of doubtful permanence. 

Mushroom Gentleman, A : one who has 
suddenly risen in the social scale. 

Music, To face the : see Face the music. 

Music, The Father of; The Father of 

Gre^ : see Father. 

Music, The Prince of : Palestrina 
(1529-94)- 

Music of the Spheres : in allusion to the 
globes imagined by the earlier astrono- 
mers to revolve round the earth, 
carrying with them the sun, moon, 
planets and fixed stars. [Shakespeare, 
Twelfth Night, III, i (1601)] 

Musicians, The Father of : see Father. 

Muster, To pass : to undergo examina- 
tion successfully. A military metaphor. 

Mutatis Mutandis [Lai., With the 
necessary changes) : {Egevton Papers, 
p. 472 (1615)] 

Mute as a fish. As : silent, [Rob. 
IBuTton, Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)] 

Mute as a mouse. As : silent. In allusion 
to the customary quietness of mice. 
[Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to the Royal 
Academicians for 1785, Ode i] 

Muttons, To return to one’s : to recur to 
the subject-matter from which one has 
wandered. From Blanchet's play, 
VAvocat Patelin (‘ Revenons k nos 
moutons *) {q-v,). 

Mutton-chop whiskers : side-whiskers, 
supposed to resemble mutton chops. 

Mutton-eating King, The : Charles II of 
England. See Mutton-monger. 

Mutton-monger, A : a roue. From a 
mutton, an immoral woman, possibly 
as a lost sheep. 

Mutual Admiration Society, A : a literary 
or social society whose members are 
supposed to devote an undue amount 
of time to singing one another's 
praises. Term invented by Oliver 


[Nail 

Wendell Holmes in The Autocrat of the 
Breakfast Table (1857-8). 

Muzzle the ox that treadeth the com. To : 
to treat one's employees with meanness. 
[Deuteronomy, xxv, 4] 

My Lady Nicotine : tobacco. From the 
title of a book by Sir James Matthew 
Barrie (1890). 

Mynheer Closh : a Dutchman. Closh is 
a corrupt contraction of Nicholas, a 
common name in Holland. M3mheer 
is Dutch mijn hear, my lord. 

Myrmidons of the Law : subordinate 
ofdcials for the administration of 
justice. Properly soldiers or other 
loyal attendants. From the inhabi- 
tants of Myrmidon in Thessaly, whom 
Achilles led to the Siege of Troy. 

Mystery of Religion, The Greatest : the 
Incarnation. 

Mysteries, The Three Greater : the 
Trinity, Original Sin and the 
Incarnation. 

Mysteries of woods and rivers. The: 
hunting and fishing. 


Naboth’s vineyard : the coveted 
possession of another. [I Kings, xxi] 

Nadir, Prom Zenith down to : from the 
highest to the lowest. The Nadir is 
properly that point in the heavens (the 
lowest) which is opposite to the 
Zenith. (Arabic). 

Naiad, A : a nymph of the water. 

Nail, On the : on the spot ; immediately. 
The phrase appears in Lat. in this sense 
in a Scot, parliamentary deed of July 
15, 1326. [Nashe, Saffron Walden 
(1596)] 

Nail in one’s coffin. To drive a : to hasten 
a person's death. [Peter Pindar, 
Expostulatory Odes, Ode XV (1789)] 

Nail one’s colours to the mast. To : to 
keep determinedly to one’s purpose. 
A metaphor drawn from maritime 
warfare. 

Nail, To go off at the : to get out of hand. 

Nail on the head. To hit the : to succeed 
in one's aim ; to come clearly to the 
point. [Skelton, Colin ' Cloute 

(1529)] 

Nail to the head (home), To drive the : 
to press a matter to its end. [Daus, 
Transl. of Sleidane, Commentary, 278 
(1560)] 

Nail a lie to the counter. To : publicly to 
expose a false statement. [Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, Medical Essays 
(iS83)3 



HallB] *48 [Nawj 


Nails, The: the 95th Regt, (now the 
Derb3?shire) which gained the repu- 
tation in the Crimea of being * as hard 
as Snails.* 

Nailsi Not to part with the parings of 
one’s : to be exceedingly mean. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (154^)] 

Nahed eye. The: the eye without any 
artificial assistance of telescope, micro- 
scope, etc. [Hy. Power, Experimental 
Philosophy, I, 17 (1664)] 

Naked tmth. The : the plain truth. In 
allusion to the fable of Truth and False- 
hood going bathing, after which False- 
hood stole Truth's garment, but Truth 
preferred to go naked rather than wear 
Falsehood's clothes. [Horace, Odes, I, 
24, 1 . 7 : Lylv, Eiiphites : Anatomy of 
Wit (1579)3 ' . , ^ ^ , 

Namby pamby : sickly sentimental ; 
childish. In allusion to the poems of 
Ambrose Philips (c- 1675-1749). The 
nickname first appeared as the title of 
a parody on Philips by Henry Carey 
{1690-1743) and was immediately 
adopted by Pope. 

Name the day. To : to appoint the day 
of one's marriage. 

Name is L^on, iSy : an expression of a 
large number. [Mark, v, 9] 

Nameless City, The: Ancient Rome. 
After the superstition that the utter- 
ance of its mystical name would 
involve death. 

Nancy, Miim : an efieminate young man. 
See Miss Nancyism. 

Nannygoats, The: the 23rd Regt. of 
Foot or Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In 
allusion to their pet, a goat. 

Nap, To go : to stake everything on a 
venture. A cardplaymg metaphor. 
The name of the game is a contraction 
of Napoleon III. 

Napier’s bones (rods) : narrow slips of 
bone or other material marked so as to 
be used to facilitate calculation in 
accordance with the system invented 
by John Napier of Merchiston (1550- 
1617). 

Napoleon of the Drama, The : (i) Alfred 
Bunn (1796-1860), Eng. theatrical 
manager and dramatic author; (2) 
Robert William Elliston (1774-1831), 
Eng. comedian, 

Napol^n the Idttle: Napoleon III, 
Emperor of the French, so-called by 
Victor Hugo. 

Napoleon of Oratory, The : William 
Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), British 
statesman. 


Napoleon of Peace, The: Louis Philippe 
(1773-1850), Kg. of French, whose 
peaceful reign was a noticeable con- 
trast to the warlike period of Napoleon. 

Napping, To catch : to take unawares. 
[Lyly, Euphites : Anatomy of Wit 
(1579) ; Greene, Trita?neron (1587)] 

Napping, as Mosse took his mare : the 
mare is said to have been too nimble 
or cunning to be taken while awake. 

Nappy ale : strong ale, that induces 
sleep. Nap = a short sleep. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Nazikin, A : a parvenu ; a nouveau 
riche. After the Japanese term for 
a pawn in chess which by crossing the 
board may suddenly gain promotion. 

Narrow Seas, The : the channels that 
separate England from France and Ire- 
land. [Sailing Directions (15th cent.)] 

Nairowd^ noon, Till : indefinitely. 
After NaJTowdale in Derbyshire, into 
which the sun does not penetrate 
throughout the winter. 

Nash, Bean : see Beau. 

Nathanael, A ; one ' in whom there is no 
guile.' [John, i, 47] 

Nation of Crentlemen, Kie : the Scottish. 
So-called by George I\’ when he 
visited Scotland in 1822. 

Nation of Poets and Thinkers, The : 
the German. So-called by L^-tton in the 
Introduction to Ernest Maltravers 

(1837)- 

Nation of Shoidzeepers, The : see Shop- 
keepers. 

Nations, The Battle of the : the Battle of 
Leipsic, Oct. 16-18, 1813. In allusion 
to the number of different nations — 
French, Austrian, Prussian, Russian 
and Swedish — that took part in it. 

Natural man, A : a philosopher ; vis,, 
one devoted to or skilled in natural 
philosophy. 

Nature, Danm : the personification of 
nature. 

Nature, Debt of : see Debt. 

Nature, In a state of : nude. 

Nature’s Darling : Shakespeare, accord- 
ing to Gray. [The Progress of Poetry, 

U. 83-4 (1757)] ^ 

Navigation, The Father of : see Father, 

Navigation, The Father of British Inland : 

see Father. 

Navvy, A : a labourer engaged in the 
construction of reads, etc. From 
* The Navigation Inn,' frequented by 
such labourers near a canal on the 
construction of which they were 
employed. 



Kazaieth] ^49 

Nazareth P Can any good come oni of ; 
the suggestion that a person, family or 
place with a bad name will never 
change it. i, 4^] 

Ne pins ultra (Lot., not further) : the 
utmost limit. Phrase said to have 
been inscribed on the Pillars of 
Hercules as indicating the utmost 
limit beyond which mariners should 
not pass. [Peter Pindar, Compli- 
mentary Epistle to James Bruce, 
Epistle Dedicatory (1790)] 

Neaera, A : a sweetheart. Used by 
Horace, Virgil and Tibullus. 

Neat as wax. As: very carefully ar- 
ranged. In allusion to the good order 
of the cells of bees. 

Ne(^ and crop : headlong, A sporting 
metaphor. 

Neck and neck : equal in capacity or 
power. A horseracing metaphor. 

Neck in the noose. To put one’s : to put 
oneself in a dangerous situation or in 
the power of another. 

Neck or nothing : complete success or 
total failure. A racing metaphor. 

[M. Davies, Athenae Britannicae, I, 321 
(1716)] 

Neck verse, The : the first verse of 
Psalm li, which had to be read by all 
condemned crim in als who clauned 
benefit of clergy. Those who succeeded 
in reading it were handed over to the 
ecclesiastical authorities. 

Necklace, The Affair of the Diamond : 
an incident that brought great dis- 
credit on the Court of Louis XVI. and 
Marie Antoinette through no fault on 
their part, in which the diamond neck- 
lace formerly owned by Madame du 
Barry and the Cardinal de Rohan 
figured prominently. 

Neck-or-nothing Novelists, The Prince of : 
Charles Lever (1806-72), author of 
Charles O'Malley, Harry Lorrequer, 
etc. 

Nectar, As sweet as: in allusion to 
nectar, the drink of the gods. 
[Ausonius, Epistulae, II] 

Needam, To be on the high road to : 
to be on the road to ruin. See 
Needam’s Shore. 

Needam’s Shore : penury. A play on 
the first syllable. 

Needful, To do the : to find the money. 

[Scott, Rob Roy, ch. 2 (1818)] 

Needle in a bottle of hay. To look for : 

see Look for. 

Needle» To get the : to become irritated. 
Orig. a ’Sdlor's phrase to denote the 


[Net 

feeling after having run a needle into 
the finger. 

Needle, To put a rope to the eye of a : 
see Put. 

Needle and thread. From : to the smallest 
detail. [Petronius, Satyrion, § 76] 

Ne’er do we^ A : a worthless person ; 
one who never does well. 

Neiges d’Antan, The (Er., last year’s 
snow) : that which is pg^sed. 

Nemean lion. The : the lion killed by 
Hercules at Nemea. 

Nemesis : retributive justice. After the 
goddess of divine retribution. 

Nepenthe : a drink that induces oblivion 
of sorrow and trouble. After 
Nepenthes, such a drug, mentioned in 
Homer, Odyssey. 

Neper’s bones : Napier’s bones {q.v.). 

Nephdo-coccygia : an imaginary place. 
After the town in the clouds built by 
the cuckoos. See Aristophanes, The 
Birds. 

Neptune : the ocean. After the Roman 
god of the seas. 

Neptune, A son of : a sailor. 

Neptune’s Bodyguard : the Royal 
Marines. 

Nereids : sea nymphs. 

Neri : see Bianchi and Neri. 

Nero, A : a cruel tyrant. After the 
Emp. Nero (37-68). 

Nero of the North, The : Christian II of 
Denmark and Norway (1480-1559). 

Nessus, The shirt of: a harmful gift. 
After the shirt of Nessus which, when 
given to Hercules and worn by him, 
pierced his body with poison of which 
he died. 

Nest, To feather one’s : see Feather. 

Nest-egg, A : a sum set aside as savings, 
intended as a nucleus of a larger 
amount. After the parallel of the 
china egg placed in a hen’s nest to 
encourage her to lay real ones. 

Nestor, A : a wise and elderly adviser. 
After Nestor, the senior counsellor of 
the Grks. in the Trojan war. 

N^or of Europe, The : Leopold I {1790- 
1865), King of the Bel^ans, whose 
advice was frequently sought by 
monarchs junior to him in years. 

Nestor, As old as: very aged. See 
Nestor. [Martial, Epigrams, Bk. II 
Ixiv, 3-4] 

Net, To catch the wind with a : see 
Catch. 

Net for. To spread one’s : to prepare to 
obtain advantage over. A fowling 
metaphor. [Proverbs, xxix, 5 ; Ovid, 



Nettie] 

Ars Amatona, Bk. I, 263-4 \ Thos. 
May, The Heir, I, i (1633)] 

Nettle, To grasp the: see Grasp. 

Neutrality, An armed : see Armed. 

New broom, A : a newly appointed and 
consequently energetic holder of an 
office. After the proverb, ' A new 
broom sweeps clean.’ [Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546)] 

New Christians, The : Spanish or Portu- 
guese Jews of the 15th or i6th cent., 
forcibly converted to Christianity, who 
continued, or were suspected of con- 
tinuing to practice Judaism in secret. 

New College : Newgate Prison. 

New departure, A : any radical refonn 
or change of base, personal or political. 
The phrase was coined by Clement C. 
Vallandigham, one of the leaders of the 
Democratic Party, in a speech made in 
Montgomery County, Ohio, in May, 
1871. 

New England : the states of Maine, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut and Rhode Island, all 
colonized from England. 

New England of the W«5t, The : Minne- 
sota, in which state a number of New 
Englanders have settled. 

New Hampshire Grants : an early name 
of the state of Vermont. 

New Jerusalem, The : paradise. 

[Revelatimis, xxi] 

New Journalism, The : journalism in 
which undue emphasis is given to 
personal and sensational matters. 
Introduced into England from the 
United States about 1884. 

New Law, The : the Gospel dispensation. 

New Learning, The : see Learning. 

New Model, The : the parliamentary 
army as reorganized after the Self- 
Denying Ordinance of 1645. 

New Style : the reckoning of time 
according to the Gregorian Calendar ; 
adopted 1582, introduced into England 

1752. 

New Tipperary : an abortive attempt in 
1890 by means of the creation of a new 
town to overcome the ground landlord 
of Tipperary in his struggle with his 
tenants. 

New wine in old bottles : the inferior 
covered by the pretence of the superior. 

New Woman, A : a progressive woman, 
who in the last two decades of the 19th 
cent., broke with convention to the 
extent of riding the bicycle, entering 
business or a profession, living away 
from home, etc. 


250 [Nichoks’f 

New World, The : the Americas. The 
phrase was first used in this sense by 
Amerigo Vespucci in a letter to 
Lorenzo de Medici, written from Lisbon 
early in 1503. 

Newcastle, To carry (send) coals to : see 
Coals. 

Newcastle Cloak, A : a cask with 
apertures for the hands and head, into 
which drunkards were formerly placed 
as a punishment. 

Newcastle hospitality : roasting a friend 
to death. From a proverb, 

Newgate, A : a prison. After the former 
principal prison of the City of London. 
Newgate Calendar, The: see Calendar. 
Newgate fashion, To march : to march in 
twos as prisoners used to be conducted 
to Newgate. 

Newgate fnnge (frill). The : the remnant 
of whiskers remaining on the jaws after 
the face and chin have been shaven, 
which covers that portion of the neck 
which the hangman’s noose touches. 
Newgate knocker, A : a lock of hair as 
worn by costermongers. Formerly 
fashionable in Newgate prison. 
Newton of Harmony, The: Jean 
Phillippe Rameau (1683-1764), author 
of Dissertation on the PrUiciples of 
Harmony. After Sir Isaac Newton 
(1642-1727), the distinguished Eng. 
natural philosopher. 

Next to nothing : hardly anything. 
Niagara, To shoot : to run great risks, as 
a rule through ignorance of the conse- 
quences (esp. in political matters.) 
After an essay by Thomas Carlyle in 
Macmillan* s Magazine (Aug., 1867). 
Nibelnngen Hoard, The : a hoard of gold 
and precious stones which, according 
to legend, Siegfried gave to his wife as 
a dowry. It was ultimately hidden in 
the iUiine and the owner being 
murdered, the place of concealment 
was lost. 

Nice as ninepence, As : corruption of nice 
as ninepins. In allusion to the 
exactitude with which they are set up 
in preparation for the game. 

Nice as a nun’s hen. As: fastidious, 
[Satirical Verses on Women (1462) ; 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Niche in the Temple of Fame, A : im- 
mortality. Properly a place for setting 
up one’s monument in the Pantheon or 
Temple of Fame of the Fr. Revolution. 
Nicholas’s Cleiks : highwaymen. A pun 
on Old Nick, the devil, or from St. 
Nicholas, the patron saint of thieves. 



Kidiolas’s] 

IKcholas’s Clerks, St. : scholars. After 
St. Nicholas, the patron saint of 
scholars. 

Nick, the Bear : Russia. So-called in 
Punch. 

Nick, Old : the Devil. After the Nickers, 
the water-fairies of the Germans. 

Nick of time, In the : at the exact 
moment. In allusion to the former 
practice of marking time by means of 
nicks or notches on tallies. [Cicero, 
Pro Quiniio, 19 ; A Warning to Fairc 
Women, II, 11 . 112-4 (1599)] 

Nicka Nan Night : the night preceding 
Shrove Tuesday. A Cornish term. In 
allusion to the tricks played by boys 
on that night. 

Nicdiel : a metallic element. Lit., little 
Nick, from a name of the devil. So- 
called by Paracelsus (i 493-1 541) on 
account of its impish properties. 
See Nick, Old. 

Nicodemical ; timid. After Nicodemus, 
the Jewish ruler, who came to Jesus by 
night. [John, iii] 

Nicodemnsed into nothing : ruined by 
the oddity of one's name. After 
Nicodemus, a Christian name. 
[Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, I, 

19 (1759-67)] 

Nicotine : an alkaloid yielded by tobacco. 
After Jean Nicot (1530-1600), who 
introduced tobacco into France. 

Nigger, The luck of a : exceedingly good 
fortune. [Bret Harte, Outcasts of 
Poker Flat (1869)] 

Niggerdriving : plying with work, like the 
continual driving of a nigger or slave. 

Night into day. To turn : to work or 
enjoy oneself at night instead of 
resting. 

Night, The eyes of the : stars. 

Night hideous. To make : generally to 
disturb the slumbers of people by 
howling and other similar noises. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, iv, 11 . 51--4 

(l602j] 

Ni^t of it, To make a : to spend the 
night in carousal or other enjoyment. 
[Twelfth Night Merriment (1602)] 

Night, Candles of the : see Candles. 

Nightingale, An Arcadian : an ass. 

Nightingale, The Cambridgeshire (Fen) : 
the edible frog, once common in the 
Cambridgeshire Fens. 

Nightingale, The Italian : Angelica 
Catalani (1782-1849), vocalist. 

Ifightingale, The Li 6 ge : the edible frog. 

Nightingale, The Swedish : Jenny Lind 
(1820-87), vocalist. 


251 [Nine 

Nightmare of Europe, The : Napoleon I. 
Nihilism: a Russian revolutionary move- 
ment which essayed to gain its objects 
by terrorism and outrages directed 
against the members of the governing 
class. The movement arose about 
1840 and derived its name from 
Turgeniev, Fathers and Sons. ‘ A 
Nihilist is a man who bows before no 
authority, who accepts no principle 
without examination.' Lat., nihil, 
nothing. 

Nil desperandum {Lat., nothing to be 
despaired of) : [Horace, Odes, I, 7, 27] 
Nile, The Hero of the : Lord Nelson 
(1758-1 805) . In allusion to his victory 
at the Battle of the Nile (1798). 
Nimble as a Tailor, As : see Pert as a 
Tailor. [Peter Pindar, Peter*s 
Pension : The Royal Sleep (1781)] 
Nimrod, A : a great hunter. After 
Nimrod, the mighty hunter (G<fw. x, 
81. [Hakluyt, Voyages, II, i, 309 

.(1587)] 

Nine pays’ Wonder, A : an ephemeral 
excitement that agitates society. S aid 
to be derived from the interest and 
excitement of children over the nine 
days’ blindness of a newly bom 
kitten. [Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 
Troilus and Creseide, Bk. IV (14th 
cent.) ; Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 
Nine Gods, The : (i) (of the Etruscans) 
Jtmo, Minerva, Tinia, Vulcan, Mars, 
Saturn, Hercules, Summanus, Vedius ; 
(2) (of the Sabines) Hercules, Romulus, 
.^sculapius, Bacchus, Mnezs, Vesta, 
Santa, Fortuna, Fides. 

Nine Ladies, The : the Muses. 

Nine Lives like a Cat : in allusion to 
the fable of 2 'he Greedy and Ambitious 
Cat by Bidpal, the Brahmin gymnoso- 
phist. [Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 
Nine Orders of Ang^ The : Seraphim, 
Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, 
Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Arch- 
angels, Angels. 

Nine Points of the Law : possession. 
In allusion to the adage ' Possession 
is nine points of the law.' The nine 
points are said to be (i) plenty of 
money, (2) excessive patience, (3) a 
good cause, (4) a go^ adviser, (5) 
a good advocate, (6) reliable witnesses, 
(7) a friendly jury, (8) good luck. 

Ifine Sisters, The : the Muses. 

Nine Spheres, The : the Moon, Mercury, 
Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, 
Saturn, the Firmament and the 
Crystalline. 



Nine] 252 [Non 


Nine, The Tnneftil : the Muses (q,v.) 

Nine Virgins, The : the Muses. 

Nine ways. To look : to squint. 

Nine Worthies, The: Joshua, David, 
Judas Maccabaeus, Hector. Alexander 
the Great, Julius Caesar, King Arthur, 
Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon. 
Three Hebrews, three heathens and 
three Christians : heroes of medieval 
romance. 

Nine Worthies of London, The: Sir 
William Walworth, Sir Henry 
Pritchard, Sir William Sevenoke, Sir 
Thomas White, Sir John Bonham, 
Christopher Croker, Sir John Hawk- 
wood. Sir Hugh Caverley, Sir Henry 
Maleverer. 

Nines, To the : to perfection. 

Ninth part of a man, A : a tailor. In 
allusion to the proverb, * Nine tailors 
make a man.' This is a corruption of 
‘ Nine tellers make a man,' the allusion 
being to the nine times a church bell 
was formerly tolled on the occasion of 
the death of a man. 

Ninth degree. To the : completely, 
utterly. [Heywood, Prcverbes (1546)] 

Ifine^-Hght The: the Irish rebellion 
of 1798. 

NIobe, A : a sorrowful, weeping woman ; 
the personification of female sorrow. 
After the daughter of Tantalus wrho 
was changed into stone while weeping 
for the loss of her children. 

Niobe of Nations, The : modem Rome. 
So-called bv Lord Byron. [Childe 
Harold, IV. '79 (1818)] 

Nip in the bud. To : to suppress in its 
very earliest stage. [Rob. Wilmot, 
Tancred and GUmunda, I, iii {1591)] 

NItouche, A St. : a hypocrite. Aiter the 
Fr., Faift la Sainte Niiouche, to pre- 
tend to great sanctity. 

inzoMan paper-books : commonplace 
books. After Marius Nizolius (1498- 
1566), Ital. scholar, who was one of the 
first to publish such a book. [Sir 
Philip Sidney, Defence of Poesie, Pt. 

II (1595)] 

No class : inferior in status. Properly, 
belonging to neither the upper nor the 
middle class. 

No Man’s Land : a borderland between 
two states or spheres of influence. 

No Popery : an expression of hostility 
to Roman Catholicism; popular at 
the time of the Gordon Riots 

Nob of the first water, A : a great swell. 
First water is the highest degree of 


quality in a diamond. ‘ Nob ' is a 
contraction of * nobleman.* 

Noble to ninepence, To bring a : to 
dissipate money idly. [Fulwell, LiJte 
Will to Like, 11. 871-4 (1568)] 

Noble Science, The: (i) fencing; (2) 
boxing. [Tarlton, Jests (1588)] 

Noblesse oblige : the doctrine that the 
nobleman should act nobly. Phrase 
coined by Peter Marc Gaston, Due de 
lAvis (1764-1830), Fr. royalist vmter, 
in 1808, as the best maxim for the 
nobility as a cletss. 

Nod, The land of: the land of sleep. 
The Land of Nod is mentioned in 
Genesis as the land whither Cain fled 
after the murder of Abel. [Swift, 
Polite Conversation {1608)] 

Nodding acauaintanoe. A: a slight 
acquaintance which has not passed 
beyond mutual nods on meeting. 

Noggin-staves, To beat to : to beat to 
pieces. From noggin, a wooden cup 
made of staves. 

Noisy god. The : Bacchus. In allusion 
to the noisy revelry of his worshippers. 
1 Nolens volens (La/., willing or unwilling) ; 
j [Peele, Edward I (1593)] 

' Noli me tangere {Lot., touch me not) : 
a person or thing not to be interfered 
with ; a warning against interference. 
[John, XX, 17 (Vulgate) ; Trevisa, 
Bartholomaeiis de Proprietati, Rex 

vn, Lix {1398)] 

Nom de guerre, A (Fr^, war name) : a 
pseudonym. [Diyden, Kind Keeper, 

I, i (1675)] 

Nom de plume, A (Fr., pen name) : a 
pseudonym. The phrase does not 
exist in French but is an English 
invention. 

Non compos mentis (Lat., not controlling 
one's mind) : being out of one’s mind. 
[Congreve, Love for Love, IV, xii (1695)] 

Non expedit, A (Lot., it is not expedient) : 
a Papal decree prohibiting partici- 
pation in political elections. 

Non olet (La/., it does not smell) ; a 
phrase used by the Emperor Vespasian 
in allusion to the proceeds of a tax 
on urinals. 

Non possumns (Lat., we cannot) ; a 
refusal. The formula used by the 
Popes to express a refusal. Used by 
Clement VII to Henry VIII of England 
in declining to grant him a divorce 
from Catharine of Aragon. 

Non seqnitur, A (Lat., it does not follow) : 
a conclusion that does not follow from 
the premisses. [Wynkyn de Worde, 



Nonce] 

A Treaty se of this Galaunt, 11. 14 1-2 
(early i6th cent.)] 

Nonce word, A : a word coined and used 
on one occasion only. Term coined 
by Sir J. A. H. Murray in the New 
English Dictionary (1888 seq,). 

Nonconformist Conscience, The : the 
strain of Puritanism in the Liberal 
party, to be found for the most part 
among the Nonconformist members of 
that party, which manifests itself 
especially in requiring a high moral 
standard from public men. 

Nonconformists : seceders from the 
Church of England and their spiritual 
descendants. In allusion to the two 
thousand clergymen who in 1662 
refused to conform to the conditions 
of the Act of Uniformity. 

Nones : (i) in the Rom. calendar, the 
ninth day before the Ides ; (2) in the 
R.C. Church a time of prayer, orig. 
3 p.m. (the ninth hour), but subse- 
quently changed to mid-day. Hence 
noon. Lat., nona hora, the ninth 
hour. 

Nonjorors : the members of the clergy 
of the Church of England who refused 
to take the oaths of supremacy and 
allegiance to William and Mary on 
their accession. 

Nonplus (La/., no further) : a mental 
state in which there is no knowledge of 
the step next to be taken. [Rob. 
Wilson, Three Lords and Three Ladies 
of London, 1. 91 (1590)] 

Non-plussed, To be : to be brought to a 
mental standstill. [Earle, Microcos- 
mography : A Bold Forward Man 
(1628] "See Nonplus. 

Nonsense from . . To stand no : not to 
allow anyone to humbug or pre- 
varicate. 

Nooning, To take a : to rest. After 
noonday, the period of rest and 
refreshment. 

Norfolk dumpling, A : a native of Norfolk. 
After a favourite dish in the county. 
[Rob. Amim, A Nest of Ninnies 
(1608)] 

Norfolk Howard, A : a bug. After one 
Joshua Bugg who advertised in. The 
Times of the 26th of June, 1862, the 
change of his surname to Norfolk 
Howard. 

Norfolk tumbler, As active as a : a 
Norfolk tumbler is a small greyhound 
of a species formerly employed in 
catching rabbits. [Dekker and Webs- 
ter, Westward Ho, II. i (1604)] 


253 [Nose 

North for . . To be too : to be too clever 
for . . In allusion to the reputation 
for shrewdness of Yorkshiremen. 

North Country compliment, A : a gift, 
neither needed by the recipient nor 
valued by the donor. 

North East Passage, The : a passage 
practicable for ships from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, via the north of Europe 
and Asia. 

North Star State, The : Minnesota. In 
allusion to its motto, ‘ L’Etoile du 
Nord,* The North Star. 

North West Passage, The : a passage 
practicable for ships from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, via the north of America. 
Northamptonshire Poet, The : John 
Clare (1793-1864). 

Northern Bear, The : Russia. 

Northern BEarlot, The infamous : Eliza- 
beth Petrovna (1709-61), Empress of 
Russia. 

Northern Herodotus, The : Snorre 
Sturleson (1188-1241), Icelandic 
historian. After Herodotus, Grk. 
historian, who lived 484 to 425 B.C. 
Northern Semiramis, The : Catharine II 
of Russia. 

Northern Victor, The : Gustavus Adol- 
phus (1594-1632), King of Sweden, 
victor over Russia, Poland and the 
Empire. 

Nose in air. With : disdainfully. 

Nose off. To bite (snap) a person’s : to 
answer shortly and peevishly. 
[Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (1599)] 

Nose, To follow one’s : to go straight 
ahead without thinking. [Earl of 
Bristol, Elvira, IV, i (1667)] 

Nose to the grindstone. To keep one’s : to 
keep a person hard at work, pressed 
like a knife or tool while being ground. 
[Hejrwood, Proverhes (1546) ; North, 
Plutarch (1578)] 

Nose, To hold up one’s : to be proud. 
Nose out of joint. To put one’s: to 
supplant a person in another’s favour. 
[Riche, Farewell (1581)] 

Nose, To be led by fiie : to be easily 
influenced. {Isaiah, xxxvii, 29] 

Nose, To lead by the: to be able to 
control completely. [Shakespeare, 
Winter* s Tale, IV, iv (1611) ; Bacon, 
Essays : Of Siitours (1597)] 

Nose, To pay through the : to pay ex- 
cessively. In the 9th cent, the Danes 
imposed a tax on the Irish, with nose- 
slitting as a penalty for non-pa3mient. 
Nose, To take pepper in the : to take 
offence. {Optick Glasse of Humors 



254 


Nose] 


[0 


: Florio, Worlds of Wordes devoid of breeding. [Lord L3rtton, 
(1598)] Pelham, XXIII (1828)] 

Nose into . . To poke one’s : to interfere Noyades, Les (Fr., the drownings) : the 
or display curiosity in a matter with massacre, by means of drowning, of the 

which one has no business. Vendean refugees who fled to Nantes 

Nose upon his sleeve. To wipe a person’s : in 1^793. ^ ^ 

to insult a person. [Keyvrood, Ntil, To the : to the utmost degree. In 

Proverbes (1546)] allusion to the mathematical formula 

Nose to spite one’s fece. To cut off one’s : of ‘ n.* 

to harm oneself in obtaining revenge Nulli sccundns {Lot,, second to none) : 
on another. incomparable. [Burton, Anatomy of 

Nose at . . To ton up one’s : to be dis- Melancholy (1621)] 
dainful at . . [Peter Pindar, Lyric Nulli Secundus Club, The : the Cold- 
Odes to the Royal Academicians for stream Guards. 

1785, Ode ii] Number, The Golden : see Golden. 

Nose of . - Under the : of an action per- Number One : oneself. [Peter Pindar, 
formed in a manner in which it should Odes of Importance : The Wolf and the 
have been witnessed, although the Lion (1792)] 

prospective witness, through negli- Number the waves. To : to act foolishly 
gence or other failure, neglected to and to no purpose. From an ancient 

notice it. [Dekker and Webster, Grk. proverb. 

Westward Ho, V, iii (1607) ; Sir Thos. Number 666 : the number of the Beast. 
More, Hist, of Edward V and Richard ( From RffoeUUions, adii, 18. 

Ill (c. 1557)1 I Nuremburg eggs : watches, which are 

Nose of wax, A : a i>erson easily influ- j made to a considerable extent at 

enced. [Tindale, Exposition of j Nuremburg, and were originally 

Matthew, vi, 23 (1532)] | shaped like eggs. 

Nose of . . To wipe one’s : (i) to deprive 1 Nut to crack, A hard ; a difficult problem 
of . . [Terence in English (1614}] ; I to solve. 

(2) to offend. [Randolph, Jealous . Nut has no shell. To prove that a : to 
Lovers (1646)] | prove the impossible. [Horace, 

Nosey : the Duke of Wellington. In Epistles, II. i, 31] 

allusion to the large size of his nose. Nuts aside, To lay one’s : to abandon 
So-called affectionately by his troops. one's youthful follies. In etUusion to 

Nostradamus, A : an astrologer ; a the Roman marriage ceremony accord- 

fortune-teller. After Michel de Nostre- ing to which the bridegroom scattered 

dame (1503-66), a Fr. physician, who nuts in order to intimate that he thus 

published a book of prophecies. abandoned his boyish pursuits. 

Nostradamus, As good a prophet as : so Nntcrack Night : All Hallows Eve 
obscure in one's meaning as to be un- 1 (October 31st), when it was formerly 

intelUgible. In allusion to the ex- the practice to crack nuts by the 

tremely obscure prophecies left by 1 heat of the fire as a method of 

Nostradamus. i divination. 

No^radamus of Portugal, The : Gon^alo Nutcrackers, The : the 3rd Regt. of Foot, 
Annes Bandana (d. 1556), a poet- now the East Kent Regt. In allusion 
cobbler. to their boast of having broken the 

Not half: (colloq.)notatall. A sarcastic heads of the Polish Lmicers at the 

use of the term. Literary Eng. in the Battle of Albuera. 

r6th to 19th cents. Nutmeg State, The : Connecticut. On 

Notes, To compare : to exchange views. account of its supposed considerable 
[Mrs. Centlivre. Busie Body I (1708)] j production of wooden nutmegs and 

Nothing of . . To mak e ; to think no ‘ other frauds, 

trouble of . . [Joe Miller* s Jests, No. I Nutshell, To lie in a : to be capable of 
31 (1739)] I brief explanation. 

Nottingham lambs : Nottingham buUies. 

Nottingham Poet, The; Philip James 1 
Bailey (1816-1902). Bom near < 0 tempora, 0 mores ! [Lot .) : What 
Nottingham. | times ! What manners ! An ex- 

Nonveau Riche, A [Fr., new rich) : a j pression of re^t at the change, 

person newly attained to wealth, but * [Cicero, In Catilinam, I, i, 2 ; Jas. 



0] 255 [Ohio 


Townley, High Life Below Stairs, I, ii 

(1759)] 

0 Yes, 0 Yes, 0 Yes! Oyez, Oyez, 
Oyez ! {Norm.-Fr., oyez, listen !) : 
the preamble of a town crier before 
uttering his proclamation. 

0’s» The Christmas : the seven antiphons, 
each beginning with O, sung on the 
nine days before Christmas. 

O’s, The Elfteen : fifteen prayers, each 
beginning with the letter O. 

O.K. : correct ; quite right. The initial 
letter of * Orl Korrect/ a corruption 
of ‘ All Correct.* Contraction said by 
his political opponents to have been 
used by Pres. Andrew Jackson {1767- 
1845) of the U.S. 

Oak ^all hear olives, When the : never. 
[Nich. Grimald, A True Loue (1557)] 

Oak, To sport one’s : to shut one’s door 
as aji indication of being engaged. 
The phrase originated at the Uni- 
versities. Most rooms in college have 
two doors, the outer one being of oak, 
which is closed when the occupant is 
absent. 

Oar in every man’s barge, To have an : 
to interfere in other people’s affairs. 
[John Redford, Lo^jg Have I Bene a 
Singing Man (1540)] 

Oar, To put in one’s : to interfere in 
another person’s affairs. [Heywood, 
Proverhes (1546) ; Florio, Worlds of 
Wordes (1596)] 

Oars, To rest on one’s : to take a rest or 
respite. A boating metaphor. 

Oats, To sow one’s wild ; see Wild. 

Obadiah, An : a Quaker. 

Obiter dictum. An (Lot., something said 
by the way) : an incidental remark. 
Properly, * An expression of opinion 
on a matter of law, given by a judge in 
Court in the course of either argument 
or judgment, but not forming an 
essential part of the reasons determin- 
ing the decision, and therefore not of 
binding authority.’ [N.E.D.] 

Obiter, To spe^ : to speak by the 
way, in passing. See Obiter dictum. 
[Burton, AncUomy of Melancholy 
(1621)] 

Occam’s razor : the axiom, ' Entities are 
not to be multiplied,’ by which William 
of Occam (1270-1349), the Eng. 
Franciscan controversialist, examin^ 
every question. 

Ocean greyhound. An : a swift Atlantic 
liner. The term is said to have been 
invented by T. Dykes in the New 
York Herald, 


Ocean Shepherd, The : Sir Walter 
Raleigh (1552-1618), explorer, courtier, 
man of letters and statesman. 

Ocnus, The Rope of : labour without 
profit. In allusion to the rope which 
Ocnus twisted and which the ass 
consumed as fast as it was produced. 

O’Connell’s Tail : Daniel O’Connell’s 
following in the House of Commons in 
the Reformed Parliament of 1832. 

October Club, The : a club of extreme 
Tories formed about 1690. After the 
October ale for which the Club was 
celebrated. 

October States : those states of the 
Amer. Union which hold their elections 
in October in advance of the other 
states and thus give some hint of the 
prospects of the wider elections that 
are to follow. 

Octobrists : a Russian political party. 
After October, 1905, the date of the 
Czar Nicholas’ manifesto promising a 
parliamentary constitution. 

Odds and evens. To be at : to differ in 
opinion. 

Odds, To give a person : to give a person 
an advantage. []VIilton, Areals, I, 
20-5 (1633)] 

Odds, By long : incomparably ; by a big 
advantage. A racing metaphor. 

Odds, To make no : to make no difference. 
A betting metaphor. 

Odin, A vow (promise) of: one made 
before the Stone of Odin (in the Ork- 
neys), which has a hole in it large 
enough for the hand to be put through. 
Pcott, The Pirate, ch. 23 (1821)] 

Odium Theologicum (Lot., Theolo^cal 
hatred) : the bitterness of religious 
dissension. 

Odour of sanctity. In the : in good repute. 
It was formerly believed that the 
bodies of saints’ gave out a pleasant 
odour, a belief probably derived from 
the excessive use of incense in the 
last rites. 

Odyssey, An : a narrative of travel and 
adventure. After the title of Homer’s 
poem, narrating the adventures of 
Odysseus after the capture of Troy. 

(Edipus, An : one who is clever at solving 
riddles. After the Theban hero who 
solved the riddle of the Sphinx. 

(Eil de bceuf. An (Fr,, bull’s eye) : a 
small round window. 

Off colour : disreputable ; not in the 
best of health. 

Ohio Idea, The : the proposal of Demo- 
cratic leaders in 1868-76, esp. popular 



Oi] 256 [Old 


in the state of Ohio, to pay U.S. bonds ' 
in greenbacks. ^ 

Oi PoUoi {Grk., the common people) : ! 
undergraduates who take orduiaiy 
degrees without honours. 

Oil to the City of Olives, To send : to 
perform a work of supererogation. 

Oil to the fire (flames). To add (put) : to 
aggravate strife and turmoil. [Hall, 
Chronicle 820 (154S)] 

Oil, To bum the midni^t : ^ee Midnight. 

Oil to ffldanguish iSre, To take ; see Take. 

Oil of palms : money. A pun on palm. 

Oil, To smell of : to show signs of deep 
study. See Midnight oil. 

Oil, To strike : to be suddenly and greatly 
successful in business. In allusion to 
the fortunes made by the discovery 
of the Pennsylvania and other oil 
springs. 

Oil on troubled waters. To pour : to com- 
pose a disturbance or dispute. In 
allusion to the effect of oil poured on 
the waters on the occasion of a storm. 
[Bede, Ecclesiastical History (735)1 

Old Al^ : Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), 
President of the U.S. 

Old Bags: Lord Eldon (1751-1838), | 
Lord Chancellor. In allusion to his j 
practice of carrying about, in separate 
brief bags, particulars of the cases in 
which his judgment was pending. 

Old Bendy : the Devil, who is willing to 
bend to anyone’s inclination. 

Old Bona Fide : I-ouis XIV, King of 
France. 

Old Boy : an expression of familiarity 
addressed to a man. [Shakespeare, 
Twelfth Night, III, ii (1601)] 

Old BuBion : Thomas Hart Benton 
(1782-1S58), Amer. stat^man. In 
allusion to his advocacy of bimettalism. 

Old Catholics : the Germ. Rom. Catholics 
who rejected the doctrine of Papal 
infallibility in 1870 and seceded under 
Johann Joseph Ignaz von DolUnger. 

Old Colony, The : Eastern Massa- 
chusetts. 

Old Country, The : England. So-called 
in the imperial dominions. 

Old as a crow. As ; [Aristophanes, Birds, 
609 ; Ovid, A mores, Bk. II, vi, 35-6] 

Old Dessaner, The : Leopold, Prince of 
Anhalt-Dessau (1676-1747), Prussian 
general. 

Old Dominion, The : Virginia ; 3 S the 
original of the Eng. colonies in N. 
America and in allusion to its former 
official description as ' The Colony and 
Dominion of Virginia.' 


Old as an eagle. As: extremely old. 
[Terence, HeaiUontimorumenos, III, 

9] 

Old En gland : first used generally in 
1641, in contradistinction from the 
colony of New England, but employed 
in 1633 in the correspondence with 
Sir Edward Coke. 

Old Ephraim : a grizzly bear. 

Old Fogs : the Syth Regt. of Foot, now 
the Royal Irish Fusiliers. In allusion 
to its battlecry, Fag-an-Bealach, clear 
the way. 

Old Fox: Marshal Soult (1769-1851). 
On account of his cunning strategy. 

Old Frite : Frederick the Great (i 71 2-86) . 
So-called (Der Alie Fritz) by his 
soldiers. 

Old Gentieman, The : the Devil. 

Old Glorious : William III of England. 

Old Glory : the United States national 
fiag. 

Old Grog : Admiral Edward Vernon 
(1684-1757), who introduced grog into 
the British navy. 

I Old Harry : see Harry. 

Old head on young shoulders. An : a 
person wise beyond his years. 

Old Hickory : see Hickory. 

Old as the hills. As : very aged. 

Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, The : 
the Bank of Englamd, which is situated 
in Threadneedle Street, London. So 
designated by John Gilray in a carica- 
ture (1797)," and by Wm. Cobbett 
(1762-1835) on account of its con- 
servatism. 

Old Law, The : the Mosaic Dispensation ; 
the books of the Old Testament. 

Old Line. State, The : Maryland. In 
allusion to the Mason and Dixon line 
which separated it from Pennsylvania. 

Old maids’ children : ideal children whose 
behaviour is ideal. 

Old Eloquent, The : a name applied 
to several persons : (i) Socrates (436- 
338 B.C.) by Milton ; {2) S. T, 

Coleridge (1772-1834) ; (3) John 

Quincy Adams (1767-1848) ; (4) W. E. 
Gladstone (1809-98), etc. 

Old of the Mountain, The : Sheikh 
al-Jabal, the chief of the Assassins 
(Arab., Hashashin), a fanatical Moslem 
sect which flourished in Persia and 
Arabia in the twdftb and thirteenth 
centuries and murdered its opponents,* 

Old man of the sea. An : any person 
of whose company it is very difficult to 
rid oneself. In allusion to the monster 
who leapt on to the back of Sindbad 



Old] 257 

in The Arabian Nights and refused to 
be dislodged. 

Old Morality : William Henry Smith 
(1825-91), Eng. statesman. 

Old Nick : see Nick, Old. 

Old Noll : Oliver Cromwell. So-called 
by the Royalists. Noll is a contrac- 
tion of Oliver. 

Old North State, The : North Carolina, 
the northern of the two Carolinas. 

Old Pam : Lord Palmerston (1784- 
1865), British statesman. 

Old Port School, The : the old-fashioned 
party, who drink old port, and support 
Tor^dsm in politics and strict ortho- 
doxy in religion. 

Old Pretender, The : J ames Edward 
Stuart (1688-1766), son of James II 
of England. 

Old Public Functionary, The: James 
Buchanan (1791-1868), Pres, of the 
U.S. 

Old Put: Israel Putnam (1718-90), 
Amer. general. 

Old Reliable : George Henry Thomas 
(1816-70), Amer. general. 

Old Rough and Ready : Zachary Taylor 
(1784-1850), Pres, of the U.S. So- 
called by his troops during the war 
with Mexico. 

Old Rowley : Charles II. After the 
name of a favourite racehorse. 

Old Salt, An : an experienced sailor. 

Old Scratch : the Devil. After Schratz, 
a Scand. demon. 

Old song, To go for an : to be sold for a 
nominal price. [The Spectator, No. 

597 {1714)] 

Old Style : the Julian method of reckon- 
ing time; abandoned in England in 
1752, in Russia in 1918. 

Old Tom : an excellent brand of gin. 
After Thomas Chamberlain who used 
to distil it. 

Old Toughs, The : the 23rd Regt. of Foot. 

Old wives’ tale, An : an unconvincing 
story. [T^mdale, Tra-islation of the 
Bible (I Tim,, iv, 7) (1534) * Peele, 

Old Wives* Tale (1590)] 

Old woman, An : a timid, fussy person, 
supposed to resemble an old woman 
in character. 

Old woman to dance. To teach an : see 
Teach. 

Old World, The : Europe, Asia and 
Africa. 

Old Zach : James Buchanan {1791- 
1868), President of the U.S. 

Olzbrius, An : a person in an imsuitable 
situation. After Olibrius, a Rom, 


[Omnium 

senator, who was in 472 proclaimed 
emperor without any special qualifica- 
tion. 

Olive branch, To hold out the : to make 
approaches for peace or a reconcili- 
ation. Anciently the olive-branch 
was a symbol of peace. The van- 
quished in a fight, suing for peace, 
held out an olive-branch. 

Olive branches : children. After Psalm, 
cxxviii, 3 : * thy children like olive 
plants round thy table.* 

Oliver asking for more. Like : in allusion 
to Oliver Twist, in Dickens* novel so 
entitled (1838). 

Oliver, A Roland for an : see Roland. 

Oliver Twist, An : one who is not satis- 
fied with his portion but -wants more. 
After the hero of the novel so entitled, 
by Dickens (1838). 

011a Podrida : a miscellaneous assort- 
ment. After an Ital. dish consisting 
of chopped meat and vegetables. 
Span., putrid pot. 

Olney Doctrine, The : an extension of the 
Monroe Doctrine (q.v.), put forward in 
a dispute -with Great Britain in 1895, 
by jfochard Olney (1835-1917). It 
claimed that Great Britain, apart from 
her Amer. colonies, had no right to 
take any action on the American 
continent. 

Olympiad, An : a period of four years ; 
that being the interval between two 
celebrations of the Olympic games. 

Olympian: heavenly; majestic. After 
Olympus (q.v.), 

Olympic games : public games on a con- 
siderable scale. After the famous 
games of ancient Greece held in honour 
of Olympian Zeus. 

Olympus : the abode of the gods. After 
the mountain on the borders of 
Macedonia and Thessaly where Jupiter 
held his court. 

Omega : the last of a series ; the end of 
a discussion. After the last letter in 
the Grk. alphabet. 

Omega, Alpha and : see Alpha. 

Omnibus Bill, An : a parliamentary bill 
whose clauses treat of several miscel- 
laneous matters. The Omnibus BiUs 
in Amer. history were that of 1850, by 
which a series of compromises was 
enacted, and that of 1888 whereby 
several territories were in the one 
measure authorized to qualify for 
admission to the Union as states. 

Omnium gatheium. An : a miscellaneous 
collection. Lat,, omnium, of all 



On] 


258 


[Oxangemen 


tilings, and gatherum^ mock Latin, i 
[Croke, Lelt&f to Cranmer (1530)] j 
On dit. An [Fr., they say) : a rumour. | 
0 nc 6 in a blue moon i see Blue moon. | 
One-hoxse : mean ; petty. Apparmtly ! 
in allusion to people who keep a private 1 
conveyance but can aSord to drive : 
only one horse. 

One o’clock, Like : very rapidly, 
energetically. Apparently from the j 
rapidity with which the end of the 
workmen's customary dinner-hour 
(mid-day to one o’clock) arrives. 

One too many for . . To be : to outwit, j 
Only, The ; Jean Paul Richter (1763- i 
1825), Germ, novelist and humorist. 
Onus piobandi. The {Lot.) : the responsi- 1 
bility for proving (a case). 1 

Open arms. To receive with : to give a 
hearty welcome to . . 1 

Open the ball. To : to commence a 1 
discussion or undertaking. A dancing 
metaphor. 

Open cotut. In : publicly ; openly. 
Properly before a court to whidh the 
public has easy access. 

Open door. The : the principle of free 
trade. 

Open door policy. The: a policy of 
equal opportunities for all, esp. in 
matters of foreign commerce. Intro- 
duced in 1899. 

Open a door with an aze. To : to act 
foolishly and to no purpose. From an 
ancient Grk. proverb. 

Open ear. An : close attention. [Early 
13th cent.] 

Openhand, With : liberally; generously. 
Open house (table), To keep : to enter- 
tain generously with and without 
formal invitation. [Palsgrave, 597 

(1530)] 

Open question. An : a subject on which 
members of a political party are 
releatsed from discipline and permitted 
to follow their own line. 

Open secret. An : news that is not yet 
publicly announced, but is none the 
less known to the public. [Goethe, 
Gesprdche mit Eckermann, III, 143 ; 
Carlyle, Jeati Paul Richter (1830}] 
Open Sesame, An : a means of obtaining 
immediate attention and satisfaction. 
After the magical formula in the 
Arahiati Nights' tale of Ali Baba and 
the Forty Thieves. 

Ophir, The gold of : dne gold. After the 
biblical region of Ophir whence gold 
was obtained. {The Spectator, No. 218 

(1711)] 


Opium eater. The English : Thomas de 
Quincey (1785-1859). After his 
Cmfessions of an English Opium EcUer 
(1822). 

Opium War, The : the war waged by 
Great Britain in 1840-2 to compd 
China to permit the importation of 
opium. 

Opportunism : the policy of acting as is 
expedient, not in accordance necess- 
arily with logical principles ; the policy 
that depends upon the opportunity. 
In Fr. history the opportunists were 
the party, led by Gambetta and 
Ferry, who adapted their policy to 
current exigencies. 

Opposition, EQs Majesty’s : the formally 
constituted party in opposition to the 
Government in parliament. 

Orade^ An : an exceptionaUy wise 
person ; a decision that implies great 
wisdom. Properly the answer of a 
Pagan god to a question put to him 
by one of his believers. 

Orade of the Ghnrch, The: Saint 
Bernard (1091-1153)- 

Orade, Sir : see Sir Oracle. 

Orade, To speak like an : to give utter- 
ance to words of wisdom. After the 
Oracles, in Grk. and Rom. antiquity, 
which were supposed to give utterance 
to the words of the gods. [Congreve, 
Love for Love, I, ii (1695)] 

Orade, To work the : to influence a 
powerful agency in one’s favour; to 
raise money by stratag?m. In 
allusion to the Oracle at Delphi where 
Pythia uttered the revelations of 
Apollo. 

Orange, The : Protestant Ulster. See 
Orangemen. 

Orange blossoms. To gather : to seek a 
wife. In allusion to the orange 
blossoms generally worn by brides at 
their wed&igs, a custom derived from 
Syria. 

Orange lilies. The : the 35th Regt. of 
Foot, now the ist Royal Sussex Regt. 
In allusion to the colour of the facings 
on their uniform and the white plumes 
gained by them at the Battle of 
Quebec. 

Orange Lodges (Chibs) : societies of 
Orangemen (q.v.). 

Orange Ped : Sir Robert Peel (1788- 
1850). In allusion to his strong anti- 
Catholic prejudice displayed when 
Chief Secretary for Ireland. 

Orangemen : a body of Ulster Protes- 
tants, very determined in their 



Orator] 259 

opposition to Catholicism. After 
William III of Orange, the Protestant 
king. 

Orator of the Human Race, The : Jean 
Baptiste (Anacharsis) Cloots (1755-94), 

Fr. revolutionary leader. So-called 
by himself. 

Orbilian stick, The : the birch. After 
PupiUus Orbilius (i 13-13 B.C.), Rom. 
schoolmaster. 

Orbilius, An : a very strict schoolmaster. 
After one mentioned by Horace in 
Epistles, II, i, 71. See Orbilian stick. 

Orchard of IrelandL The : County Armagh. 

Order, To call to : to recall a speaker to 
the subject under discussion. 

Order of the day. The : the agenda set 
down for consideration in a legislative 
body or other debating assembly. 

Order reigns in Warsaw : the announce- 
ment made by Marshal Horace Sebas- 
tian!, Foreign Minister, in the French 
Chamber after the suppression of the 
Polish rebellion in 1831. It was the 
order of the cemetery. 

Order, A tall : a considerable demand 
on one’s credulity, patience, etc. 

Orders : the ranks of (i) bishop, priest, 
deacon, sub-deacon, acolyte, exorcist, 
reader and doorkeeper in the R.C. 
Church ; (2) bishop, priest and deacon 
in the Anglican Church ; (3) bishop, 
priest, deacon, sub-deacon and reader, 
and sometimes also singer in the 
Eastern churches. 

Ordnance map. An : a map prepared by 
the Ordnance Survey (^.i*.). 

Ordnance Survey, The : the official 
survey of the United Kingdom. 
Formerly carried out by the Orcfiiance 
Department of the War Office. 

Ore rotundo (Lat., with round mouth) : 
loudly ; elegantly. [Horace, Ars 
Poetica, 323 ; Swift (1720)] 

Orestes, As mad as : in allusion to Orestes, 
son of Agamemnon and Clytasmnestra, 
who went mad after having avenged 
his father’s death. [Burton, Anatomy 
of Melancholy (1621)] 

Or^es and l^lades : inseparable and 
self-sacrificing friends. After two Grk. 
heroes, Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, 
and Pylades, the son of Strophius. 

Organic Statute^ The : the Russian ukase 
of 1832 which deprived Poland of 
self-government. 

Organized Hypocrisy, An: a Conserva- 
tive government. So described by 
Lord Beaconsfield (1804-81) in the 
House of Commons (March 17, 1845). 


[Orson 

Organizer of Victory, The : Lazare 
Nicolas Carnot (1753-1823), Fr, states- 
man. So-nam^ in an anon3rmous 
interjection in the course of his speech 
in the French Convention on the 27th 
May, 1795. 

Orgoglio : the personification of pride. 
After a giant in Spenser, Faerie 
Queens (1590-6). 

Oriana, The peerless : Queen Elizabeth. 
Oriana was the legendary*' mistress of 
Amadis of Gaul. 

Orientation : position in regard to a 
centre of influence or attraction. 
Properly, turning or indication towards 
the East as the religious centre. 

Oriflamme, The : the ancient standard of 
France, until 1415. Orig. the banner 
of the Abbey of St. Denis. Late Lat., 
aiiriflamma, flame of gold. 

Original sin : the doctrine of the natural 
evil tendency of man. 

Orleans comment. Like an : rendering 
obscure instead of clarifying. After 
the long-winded commentaries of 
Orleans College. 

Orleans, The Maid of : see Maid. 

Ormus, The wealth of : in allusion to 
Ormus or Hormuz, an ancient and 
medieval city of Persia, famous for 
its commerce and weilth and in 
particular for its pearl fisheries. 
[Milton, Paradise Losf, Bk. II (1667)] 

Ormusd ; Ormuzd : the angel or principle 
of light and goodness, according to the 
Magian system. 

Ornithology, The Father of : see Father. 

Orphan of tihe Temple, The : the Duchesse 
d’Angouleme, daughter of Louis XVI 
and Marie Antoinette. In allusion to 
her imprisonment by the Revolu- 
tionaries in the Temple prison. 

Orpheus : a Grk. mythical personage able 
to exercise miraculous influence by 
means of his lute. 

Orpheus of the Eighteenth Century, The : 
Handel (1685-1759), the musical 
composer. 

Orpheus of the Green Isle, The : Furlough 
O’Carolan {1670-1738), the Green Isle 
being Ireland. 

Orpheus of Highwaymen, The: John 
Gay (1685-1732), author of The 
Beggar* s Opera (1727). 

Orphic : mysterious ; esoteric. After 
Orpheus, the mythical poet, who was 
able to move inanimate objects by the 
music of his 13^:0. 

Orson, As wild as : after Orson, who 
was brought up by a bear among its 



Orton] 2 

cubs in the early medieval romance of 
Valentine and Orson. 

Oiton in his shop. As sure as Job : Job 
Orton (d. 1717) was a grocer of Shrews- 
bury who was famous for his attention 
to business. 

Ossa, To heap Pelion upon; to add 
difficulty to difficulty. After the 
attempt of the giants to reach to 
heaven by placing Mount Pelion on 
top of Mount Ossa. [Homer, Odyssey, 
Bk. XI : Dekker, The GnlVs Hornbook, 
ch. 6 (1609)] 

Ostend, To hold out as long as: m 
allusion to the siege of Ostend which 
lasted for three years and ten weeks 
(1601-4). [Dekker and Webster, 
Westward Ho, I, i (1607)] 

Ostrich, To hide one’s head like an : see 
Ostrich policy. 

Ostrich, To play the : see Ostrich policy. 

Ostrich policy. An : a policy of closing 
one’s eyes and imagining that nobody 
can see one. In allusion to the sup- 
posed practice of the ostrich of hiding 
its head when in danger. 

Ostrich stomach. An ; a stomach that 
can digest anything. In allusion to 
the practice of the ostrich of swallowing 
pieces of iron, etc., when stones to 
assist in the digestion of its food are 
not available. 

Othello’s occupation’s gone : one is no 
longer to be the centre of attraction. 
[Shakespeare, Othello, III, iii {1604)] 

Otium cum dig^dtate {Lat., idleness with 
dignity) ; the phrase ‘ cum digitate 
otium ' was used by Cicero in the 
Oration for Sextus, xlv, 98, and was 
introduced into Eng. by Lord Boling- 
broke in a letter to Swift (Nov. 19, 
1729). 

Out of the blue ; quite unexpectedly. 

Out at ^bows : shabbily dressed. 

Out of hft^n«^ag : retired from work. 

Out of Joint, The time is : the times are 
unsettled. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v 



or extreme. 

Out of pocket, by - . To be : to suffer 
financially . . 

Out of sorts : somewhat indisposed. 

Out of the wood, Not to be : not yet to 
be clear of a difficulty. In allusion to 
the time when brigands infested the 
woods to the danger of travellers. 

Out-Herod Herod, To : see Herod. 

Onflander, An : an alien inhabitant ; 
esp. one who suffers disabilities. 


[P. 

[\^erstegan. Restitution of Decayed 
Intelligence (1605)] 

Outrun the constable, To : to live 
extravagantly ; properly, to avoid the 
law and its officers. [T. Powell, 
Tom All Trades (1631) ; Butler, 
Hudibras, Pt. I, Canto iii (1663)] 

Overland Route, The : the route from 
England to India through France and 
Italy and thence from Brindisi by sea. 

Oven^oot the mark. To : to go further 
than was intended. An archery 
metaphor. [Fraunce, Lawier*s Logike 
(1588)] 

Ovid, The French : see French Ovid. 

Owl light : dusk ; twilight. 

Owl in an ivy hush. Like an : see Ivy 
bush. 

Owl shall match the nightingale. When 
the: never. 

Own, On one’s : independently. 

Ox goeth to the slaughter, As an : foolish- 
ly and helplessly. [Proverbs, vii, 22] 

Ox on one’s tongue, To have an : to have 
been bribed to silence. After the 
representation of an ox on Athen i a n 
coins. 

Oxford Blues, The : the Royal Horse 
Guards. After the colour of their 
uniform and from the fact of their 
having been raised by Aubrey, Earl 
of Oxford. 

Oxford Movement, The : a movement, 
originating among members of the 
University of Oxford in 1833, to effect 
a rapprochement between the Church 
of England and Rome. It was also 
known as the Tractarian Movement 
from Tracis f Of the T imes, the volume in 
which the views of the founders of the 
movement were first set forth, and its 
members as Puseyites, from Edward 
Bouverie Pusey (1800-^2), one of the 
founders. 

Oxford School, The : the theological 
school of thought representative of the 
Oxford Movement (q.v.). 

Oxymoron, A living : one who contradicts 
himself. After a figure of speech 
which is superficially self-contradic- 
tory. 

Oyster part. An : a part of an actor which 
consists of one short sentence only. 
Like an oyster, he opens his mouth 
but once. 


(Ft., pour prendre congi,^ to take 
leave) : initials put on a visiting card 
as a substitute for a farewell visit. 



26 i 


P’s] 

P’s and Q’s, To mind one’s : to be careful. 
A reference to the pints and quarts 
chalked up in country public-houses 
against credit customers. Orig. a 
warning to the customer not to allow 
his account to mount too high. Other 
suggestions are from (i) the writing- 
master's injunctions to distinguish 
between p and h and q and g ; (2) 

‘ pieds/ deportment, and ‘ queues* tails 
of hair, both very important matters 
in the France of Louis XIV and 
Louis XV. 

P’s, The Five : William Oxberry (1784- 
1824), who was printer, poet, publisher, 
publican and player. 

Pabulum Acherontis {LaU, food for 
Acheron) : a dead body. See Acheron. 

Pace, To go the : to live a fast, extrava- 
gant life. [Beginning of 18th cent.] 

Paces, To put through one’s : to exhibit 
one's accomplishments. A metaphor 
drawn from the stable. 

Pacific blockade, A : see Blockade. 

Pack the cards. To : so to arrange the 
cards as to secure an undue advantage 
to oneself. [i6th cent.] 

Pack a jury. To : so to select a jury as to 

- be assur^ of a verdict in one’s own 
favour. [i6th cent.] 

Pack up one’s traps. To : to depart. In 
allusion to the packing of one's 
personal belongings before departing 
from a place. 

Packing, To send : to dismiss a person, to 
send him about his business. [R.B., 
Appius and Virginia, 1. 216 (1563)] 

Pack-rag Day : May Day. So-call^ in 
Lincolnshire, because servants being 
hired from that day for a year, packed 
up their rags or clothes preparatory to 
removing to their new homes. In 
some counties the term was similarly 
applied to Michaelmas Day. 

Pacolet’s horse ; A horse of Pacolei : a 
very swift horse. In allusion to the 
enchanted steed of Pacolet in the 
romance of Valentine and Orson. 

Pacta Conventa : the agreement between 
the Polish nobles and their kings made 
on the occasion of the election of the 
latter. 

Pactohan : golden. After the fabulous 
golden sands of the River Pactolus in 
Lydia. 

Pactolus, As rich as the River: see 
PactoUan. 

Pad, To go out in the : to tramp. From 

* pad,' a path. 

Pad the hoo6 To ; to tramp. 


[Painter 

Pad in the straw, A : anything wrong ; 
a concealed danger. [Palsgrave 
(1530); Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Paddington Fair ; a public execution at 
Tyburn which is within the Borough of 
Paddington. These executions were 
abolished in 1868. 

Paddle one’s own canoe, To : to rely 
on oneself and one's own exertions. 
Orig. an American phrase. 

Padd^: an Irishman. After St. Patrick, 
the patron saint of Ireland. 

Paddy-whack, A : an Irishman. After 
Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, 
and wag, one who makes jokes. 

Psean, To sing the : to exult ; to sing in 
triumph. The paean in Grk. antiqui- 
ties was a hymn of thanksgiving 
addressed to Apollo. 

Peeonian : medicad. After Paean, the 
physician of the gods. 

Page of State to the Muses, The : Edmund 
Spenser (1552-99). So-called by Wm, 
Wordsworth in The Prelude, Bk. Ill 
(1850). 

Paget’s Irregular Horse : the Fourth 
Hussars. In allusion to its irregular 
drill after its return from India. 

Paignton pudding. As hig as a : Paignton, 
Devon, is famous for the immense size 
of the puddings made there to celebrate 
exceptional occasions. 

Paint blade. To : to attribute evil to • . 
[Lodge, A Margarita of America, 84 
(1596)] 

Paint-brush Baronets : artist baronets. 

Paint the dead. To : to act foolishly and 
to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Paint the lily. To ; to perform a work of 
supererogation. [Shakespeare, King 
John, IV, ii, U. 1 1-6 (1596)] 

Paint ihe town red. To : to create a 
disturbance ; to enjoy oneself in a 
rollicking, semi-riotous manner. An 
Americanism. 

Painted sepulchre, A : a hypocrite ; one 
whose real thoughts belie his fair 
pretence. [Matthew, xxiii, 27, 
according to the version of the Great 

Bible (1539)] 

Painted sheath, A : beauty. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Painter, To out the : to dissociate oneself 
from . . ; esp. in allusion to the 
secession of colonies from the mother- 
country. A naval met^hor. 

Painter of the Graces, The: Andrea 
Appiani (1754-1817), the best fresco 
1 painter of his age. 



262 


Pair] 

Pair, To : in Parliament, to arrange with 
a political opponent for a mutual 
abstention from voting for a limited 
period. 

Pair, An (Fr.) : phrase used in respect 
of exchanges of accommodation in 
two families residing in different 
countries. 

Paladin, A : an eminent champion. 
Properly, a member of a band of 
knights in the service of Charlemagne, 
at whose head was the Count Palatine. 
Orig. an official of the palace at 
Byzantium. 

Palaver, The Ifational: parliament. 

Palamedes, A : a clever, ingenious 
person. After the son of Nauplius, 
who invented many ingenious con- 
trivances and penetrated the assumed 
madness of Ulysses. 

Palatine, A : a county over which an 
earl, bishop or duke had royal juris- 
diction. In England the counties 
palatine were Chester, Durham and 
Lancaster. Lit., belonging to a palace. 
Pale, The; The Engli^ Pale: the 
district in Ireland which was colonized 
by Eng. settlem in the reign of Henry 
II. It comprised orig. the districts of 
Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Waterford, 
and Wexford, but it gradually became 
reduced to the Dublin district only. 

Pale as death. As : exceedingly pale. 
[Beaumont and Fletcher, Knighl of the 
Burning Pestle (i6io)] 

Pale Face, A : a European or a person of 
European descent. So-called by the 
Amer.-Indians. 

Pale as a ghost. As : white in the face. 
[Chaucer, Canterbuty Tales, Prologue, 
205 (14th cent.)] 

Pale, To leap the : to live beyond one's 
income. \The Man in the Moone 
(1609)] 

Pale as a lily. As : see White as a lily. As. 

Pale of Settlement, The Jewish : fifteen 
governments of Western Russia in the 
towns of which the Jews of Russia 
were confined in accordance with the 
oppressive policy of the Czarist regime. 

Palsy’s watch : the watch used as an 
illustration to prove the argument of 
design, by William Raley in his 
Natural Theology (1802). 

Palinody, A : a recantation. After the 
name of the ode which was composed 
by Stesichorus as an apology for his 
attack ^on Helen. 

Palinurus, A : a pilot. After the 
steersman of .^neas. 


[Palsy 

Palladio, The English : Inigo Jones 
(1573-1653). After Andrea Palladio 
(1518-80), a famous Ital. architect. 

Palladium, A : any object that affords 
protection- After the Palladion, the 
statue of Pallas, that afforded protec- 
tion to Troy. 

Palladium of Scotland, The : the 
Coronation Stone ; formerly of Scone. 

Pallas : the Grk. goddess of wisdom. 

Pallas’ bird : the owl. After one of the 
attributes of the goddess, Pallas 
Athene. 

Pallium, The : the cloak of office, the 
presentation of which by the Pope 
authorizes high church functionaries to 
enter on their office. Orig. the outer 
garment generally worn by men in 
ancient Rome. 

Palm off. To : to persuade a person to 
accept goods or a statement of an 
inferior or fraudulent character. A 
conjuring metaphor. 

Palm, To bear the : to carry off the prize. 
In allusion to the palm leaves with 
which in classical times the victor was 
crowned. [Nat. Woodes, Conflict of 
Conscience, III, i (1581)] 

Palm, To give (yield) the : to suffer or 
admit defeat. See Palm, To bear the. 
[Lyttelton, Dialogues of the Dead, 
Dial, xi (1760)] 

Paln^ An itching : a hand ready to re- 
ceive a bribe. In allusion to the super- 
stition that if one's hand itches one is 
about to receive money. [Shakes- 
peare, Julius CcBsar, IV (1601)] 

Palm oil : a bribe ; that with which the 
palm is greased or made easy. A pun, 
[Hichscorner, 11. 268-9 (1520)] 

Palm Sunday : the Sunday immediately 
preceding Easter, commemorative of 
the triumphant entry of Jesus into 
Jerusalem. [John, xii] 

Palm Sunday, Sad: Palm Sunday in 
1463, the day of the Battle of Tow- 
ton, when 37,000 Englishmen are said 
to have been killed. 

Palmetto State, The : South Carolina. 
In allusion to the palmetto tree in its 
arms and also to the number of those 
trees which grow in the state. 

Palmy Days (of the drama, etc.)> The : 
the splendid period whose leading 
representatives would, if they had been 
living in classical times, have been 
awarded palms of merit. 

Palmyra of the North, The : Petrograd. 

Palsy, The gentleman’s: ruin through 
gambling. 



Paltock’s] 263 

Paltock’s Inn : a poverty-stricken place. 
[Gosson, Schoole of Abuse (1579)] 

Pam : Lord Palmerstone. A contrac- 
tion. 

Pamphlet, A : a small book, generally in 
paper covers. After Pamphihts sen 
Amove {Pamphilet), a lath cent. Lat. 
poem. More remotely from Pam- 
phylla (fi. 58 A.D.), a Grk. female 
historian ; or from Pamphilus, a comic 
writer of the 12th cent. 

Pan : the personification and deification 
of nature. 

Pan out, To : to show results. Orig. an 
Amer. gold miner’s phrase. 

Pan, The Great : Voltaire (1694-1778). 

Panacea, A : a universal cure. Alter 
Panacea, the daughter of .^sculapius, 
the god of medicine. 

Panama : the great Fr. financial scandal 
of 1892 which arose out of the com- 
pany formed to cut the Panama Canal. 
Hence a financial scandal. 

Panama hat, A : properly Palmata hat, 
from the leaf of the Cardulavia 
Palmata out of which it was made. 

Pan-Americanism : the movement for 
close political co-operation between all 
the states of the Amer. continent. 

Panamino : An Ital. financial scandal 
of 1893. Lit., the little Panama, in 
allusion to the Fr. Panama scandal of 
the previous year, 

Pan-Anglican : embracing the whole of 
the Anglican Church in all countries 
and in all its developments. 

Pancake Tuesday (Day) : Shrove Tues- 
day. In allusion to the pancakes 
eaten on that day. 

Pandarus, To play Sir : to act as a 
procurer. See Pander. [Ben Jonson, 

The New Inn, I (1630)] 

Pander, A : one who acts as procurer for 
the gratification of lust. After 
Pandarus, the Trojan,' who acted as the 
intermediary between Troilus and 
Cressida. 

Pandora’s box : a box which contained 
the blessings of life, given to Pandora, 
the first woman, by the gods. She 
opened the box and the blessings 
escaped. 

Panem et dreenses {Lat., bread and 
games) : food and amusement at the 
public expense. In allusion to the 
bread and games supplied free in the 
years of decline of the Rom. Empire. 

Pan-Germanism : the movement for the 
extension of Germ, infiuence in general, | 
in particular for the incorporation in I 


[Panurge 

the Germ. Empire of the Germ, 
districts of Austria. 

Panhandle State, The : West Virginia. 
In allusion to its shape. 

Pan-Islamism : a movement for the co- 
operation of all Mohammedans 
directed towards their freedom from 
Christian rule. 

Panjandrum, The Great: a self-impor- 
tant, pretentious official. After a 
word invented in the nonsense verses 
of Samuel Foote (1720-77), to test the 
memory of Macklin. 

Pan-pipes : the shepherd’s flute. After 
the god. Pan, who is said to have 
invented it. 

Pan-Slavism : a Russian movement for 
the incorporation in the Russ. Empire 
of all the neighbouring Slav popula- 
tions. 

Pantables, To stand upon one’s: see 
Pantofles. 

Pantagruelian : coctrse and extrava- 
gantly satirical. After Rabelais, 
Pantagrv.el. 

Pantagruelian herb. The : hemp. In 
allusion to its application to hanging by 
Pantagruel in Rabelais, Pantagruel, 
Bk. II. 

Pantaloon, To play : to act invariably as 
subservient to another. In allusion 
to the pantaloon or buffoon in panto- 
mime. 

Pantheon, A : a church or other building 
employed as a burial-place for nation^ 
heroes ; the whole body of the gods. 
After the Grk. temple which was 
dedicated to all the gods. 

Pantheon, The British : Westminster 
Abbey. 

Panthera bone. To wear a comb of : to 
be perfect. After the comb of pan- 
thera bone worn by the queen in H. 
von Alkmar, Peymard the Fox (1498). 
The panthera was an imaginary beast 
of the Orient. 

Pantile shop, A : a nonconformist place 
of worship. After the pantiles with 
which formerly they were often roofed. 

Pantofles (Pan&bles), To stand upon 
one’s : to stand upon one’s dignity. 
Pantofle is a slipper, from Dutch, 
pantoffel. [Saker, Narbonus, II, 99 
(1580)] 

Panion gates. As old as : in allusion to 
Pandon Gates, Newcastle on Tyne 
(1649). 

Pannige ai^ed if he sboiild maxiy. As : 

asking advice with no intention of 
following it. In allusion to Panurge’s 



Pap] 264 

procedure as narrated in Rabelais, 
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Bk. Ill, 9. 

Pap with a hatchet. To give ; to do a 
kind action in an unkind manner. 

See title of a book by John Lyly (15^9)* 

Paper, On : in writing or print. 

Paper hlociade, A : see Blockade. 

Paper honse, A ; a theatre whose 
audience has to a large extent been 
admitted free of charge, i.e., with 
paper passes. 

Paper Sing, The : J ohn Law of Lauiiston 
(1671-1729), financier. In allusion to 
the paper prospectuses which set forth 
his financial schemes. 

Paper minister, A : a preacher who reads 
his sermons. 

Paphian queen (goddess), The: Venus. 
After Paphos in Cyprus, which city 
was dedicated to her. 

Par : see Above par and Below par. 

Par excellence per excellentiam, by 
virtue of itsexcellence): pre-eminently. 
[Tofte, Alba (1598)] 

Par noMle fratrusi (Lat., a noble pair of 
brothers) : [Horace, Satires, II,iii, 243] 

Paradise of exiles, The: Italy. In 
allusion to its large population of 
foreign rentiers. 

Parbleus, The : the French. After the 
Fr. oath, Parbleu, corruption of 
Par Dieii, by God. 

Parc aux Cerfs : Louis XV*s harem at 
Versailles. 

Parcee, The : the Fates — Clotho, Lachesis, 
Atropos. Lat., pars, a lot. 

Pardon Bell, A : the Angelus bell (q^v,). 

In allusion to the pardon gained by 
reciting the Angelus. 

Pari mutnel (Fr,, mutual bet) : a form of 
mechanicau betting in which the total 
amount wagered is divided among the 
successful. 

Pari passu (Lat., with equal pace) : 
simultaneously. [De Quincey, On 
Murder Considered as One of the Fine 
Arts (1827J] ^ 

Pazian verse : spiteful satire. After 
Archilocos (fl. 630 B.C.), of Paros. 

Paiibanou, like a Fairy : in allusion to 
the fairy in the Arabian Nights' tale. 
Prince Ahmed and Pari-Banou, who 
presented Ahmed with a tent which 
when folded would go into his pocket 
and when opened wonld cover a 
whole army. 

Paridel, A : a wealthy, young, pleasure 
and interest seeking man of leisure. 
After a character in Spenser, Faerie 
Queen, III, x, and IV, i (1590-^). 


[Parliament 

Paris garden, A : a scene of disorder. 
In allusion to the place of popular 
resort, so-called, formerly situated in 
Southwark, London. The name was 
derived from Robert de Paris who 
founded it at the end of the 14th 
cent. 

Paris of Japan, The : Osaka. So-called 
by Gibson in the Gallery of Geography, 

Paiik Idttle : (i) Bucharest ; (2) 

Brussels ; (3) the Galleria Vittorio 

Emanuelo of Milan. 

Paris Matins : the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew in 1572. 

Parish, To come upon the : to be depen- 
dent for support on the IPoor Law. In 
allusion to the parish as an area for the 
administration of poor relief. [Fes. 
Coventry, History of Pompey the 
Little, ch. 10 (1751)] 

Parisian Wedding, The : the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew, which was perpe- 
trated in the course of the wading 
festivities of Henri of Navarre and 
Marguerite of France (1572L 

Parliament, Addled: see Addled 
Parliament. 

Parliament, Barebones : the parliament 
of 1653 in which Praise God Barbon 
(Barebones) sat for the City of London. 

Parliament of Bats, The : the parliament 
of 1426 to which the members, being 
forbidden to wear swords, came armed 
with bats or bludgeons. 

Parliament, The Black : the parliament 
held by Henry VIII in Bridewell. 

Parliament, The Devil’s : that of 1459 by 
which the Duke of York, the Earl of 
March and their principal followers 
were attainted. 

Parliament, The Drinking (Drunken) : 
the Scot, parliament of 1661, the 
members of which, according to Burnet, 
were almost perpetually drunk ! 

Parliament of Dunces, The : the parlia- 
ment of 1404, because lawyers were 
disqualified from membership. 

Parliament, The Good: the refoiming 
parliament of 1376. 

Parliament, The Lack-learning (Illiterate) 
(Lay) : that of 1404 from which 
lawyers were excluded. 

Parliament, The Little : see Little. 

Parliament The Long : see Long. 

Parliament, The Mad : the parliament of 
1258. In allusion to its opposition to 
King Henry IV. 

Parliament, The Marvellous (Merciless) : 
that of 1388 which condemned the 
favourites oi Richard II. 



Parliament] 265 [Partaiunt 


Parliament, The Mongrel : that held at 
Oxford in 1681, in which Whigs and 
Tories combined to pass the Exdusion 
Act. 

Parliament, The Pacific : the parliament 
of 1710 which approved the Treaty of 
Utrecht, thus terminating a war of 
eleven years' standing. 

Parliament, The Pensioner (Pensionary) : 
see Pensioned Parliament. 

Parliament, The Rump : the Long Parlia- 
ment of 1640, after it had been 
purged by Cromwell. 

Parliament, The Running: the Scot, 
parliament, which frequently changed 
its place of meeting. 

Parliament, The Short : that whidtx sat 
from .A.pril 13 to May 5, 1640. 

Parliament Soldiers : those of General 
Monk, who restor^ Charles II to the 
throne. 

Parliament, The Unlearned : the parlia- 
ment of Dunces 

Parliament, The Unmerciful : the 
Marvellous Parliament 

Parliament, The Useless: that of June 
18 to Aug. 12, 1625. 

Parliament, The Wonderftd (Wonder- 
working) : the Marvellous Parliament 
(7,v.). 

Parliamentary language : language which 
does not transgress the law of orderly 
discussion in parliament. 

Parliamentary train. A: a train for 
third-class passengers at not more th^ 
a penny a mile (now ijd.), run in 
accordance with pcirliamentary statute. 

Parnassian : sacred to the Muses ; in par- 
ticular relating to a Fr. school of poets 
of the mid I gth cent. After Parnassus, 
the sacred mountain of the Muses. 

Parnassus : the domain of poetry. See 
Parnassian. 

Parnassus, To dimh : to write poetry. 
[Marriage of Wit and Science I (1570)] 
See Parnassian. 

PameDism : the political movement led 
by Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-91) 
after the split in the Irish Nationalist 
Party of 1890. 

Pamdhie juice. To stew in : a phrase 
used by Sir William Harcourt (1827- 
1904) in allusion to the supporters of 
Home Rule for Ireland, in tiie period 
of Parnell and before the policy had 
been adopted by the Liberal Party as 
a whole. 

Parolles in a pedagogue’s wig, A : a vain 
pretender ; a man of words but not of 
deeds. Fr., parole, a word. 


Parr, Old: Thomas Parr, an agriculture 
labourer, said to have been bom in 
1483 and to have died in 1635. 

Parody, The Father of : see Father of 
Par<iy. 

Parricide, The Beautiful : Beatrice 
Cenci (d. I 599 )* 

Parsley, To need nothing but : to be dead. 
In allusion to the parsley with which 
the tombs of the Greeks used to be 
decked. 

Parson Runo, A : a simple-minded 
clergyman. In allusion to the pro- 
verbial simplicity of the Lutheran 
clergy of the Isle of Runo. 

Parson’s bam. As big as a : a parson's 
bam is a tithe bam, which was often 
of very great size. 

Parson's nose. The : the rump of a fowl. 

Part, In good ; In bad : willingly ; un- 
willingly. [Sir Thos. Wyatt, The 
Louer Suspected of Change (1557)] 

Part and parcel : an essential part of 
an3rthing. 

Parthian right, A : a fight in which one 
party continues to fight while 
apparently fleeing. In allusion to the 
practice of the Pajrthians of discharging 
their missiles backwards while 

apparently fleeing. 

Parthian gmce, A : a final look from 
one withdrawing. See Part hi a n fight. 

Partluan retreat, A : See Parthian fight. 
[Jasper Fisher, Fuimus Troes, III, v 
{i<^ 33 )] 

Parthian shot (shaft), A : a final pointed 
retort. See Parthian fight. 

Parti piis (Fr., side taken) : bias. 

Partibus i^d^um. Bishops in : Rom. 
Catholic bishops holding imaginpy 
sees without any catholic community. 
Lat., in the Izuids of the unbelievers. 

Parting of &e ways. At the: at the point 
at which one must make up one's mind 
as to the choice of two alternative 
courses. 

Partington, Mrs. : a personage invented 
by Sydney Smith in a speech at 
Taunton on the Reform Bill in 1831. 
She proposed to sweep the Atlantic out 
of her house with a mop. 

Partington’s broom. Dame : see Parting- 
ton, Mrs. 

Partlet, Dame : a hen. [Chaucer, Non nes 
Pr. Tale (14th cent.)] 

Partridge’s Day, St : Sept^ber ist, the 
day on which partridge shooting 
commences in England. 

Farturinnt montes (Lu/.) : see Mountain 
in Labour. 



266 


Party] 


[Pax 


Party man, A : one who slavishly 
carries out the behests of his party. 
[Sydney Smith, Peter Plymley's 
Letters, I (1808)] 

Parvenu, A {Fr,, arrived) : one who has ; 
risen suddenly or quickly in the social 
scale. The word in this sense was 
first popularized by the title of a 
work by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain 
de Marivaux (i 688- 1763), Paysan 
Parvenu. 

Pas, To yield the (Fr., pas, step): to 
give precedence to . . [Spectator, 
No. 529, 1712] 

Pascal’s Abyss : an imaginary gulf. 
After an hallucination from which 
Blaise Pascal (1623-62), Fr. mathe- 
matician and religious philosopher, 
sufiered as the result of an accident. 
He imagined there was always an 
abyss by his side. 

Pasch (Pasque) egg, A : an Easter egg. 
Pascka, the Passover, which as a rule 
coincides with Easter. 

Pasquinade (Pasquin) (Pasquil), A : a 
political lampoon. After the satires 
composed by the cobbler, Pasquino, 
against the Rom, government (15th 
cent.). The original pasquins or 
pasquinades were affixed to a mutilated 
statue which was found buried near 
Pasquino’s shop. 

Pass, To sell the : see Sell. 

Passer le temps. Pour [Fr., to pass away 
the time). 

Passing-bell, The : a church bell rung to 
announce the passing of a soul. 

Passion flower. The : a species of twining 
plant. After a fancied resemblance 
to the instruments of Christ’s Passion 
and also from the fact that it remains 
open for three days, the period between 
the Last Supper and the Resurrection. 

Pasaon Play, A : a dramatic represen- 
tation of the incidents in the life of 
Jesus. 

Passive Resistance : opposition, none the 
less determined though it refrains from 
action. Phrase coined by Hans Victor 
von Unruh, President of the National 
Assembly at Berlin on Nov. 10, 1848, 
when armed protection was offered to 
that body by the National Guard and 
Guilds of Berlin. 

Past praying for. To be : to be deaf to 
influence against the course proposed 
to be followed, or so far on the road 
as no longer to be drawn aside from it. 

Pat: an Irishman ; a diminutive of St. 
Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. 


Pat on the back. To : to praise ; to 
encourage ; to express approval of . . 

Pat, To stand : to decline to alter one’s 
position, though having the option of 
doing so. A poker term. 

Patch upon it. Not a : not to be compared 
to it ; bearing the same relation in 
excellence as between the patch on a 
lady’s cheek and the cheek itself. 

Patelhiage : buffoonery. From Patelin, 
a stock character in Fr. farce. 
[Blanchet’s comedy, UAvocat Paielini 

Pater Noster, The : the Lord’s Prayer, 
From the two first words in Lat. (Our 
Father), also every tenth bead in a 
rosary, at which the Lord’s Pra5^er is 
recited. 

Paternoster line, A : a fishing line with 
leads and hooks at equal intervals, 
resembling a rosary of beads with 
which prayers are said. See Pater- 
noster. 

Patient as Griselda, As : see Grise’da. 

Patmos, To be one’s : to be one’s place 
of exile. After the island to which 
St. John was banished. 

Patres Conscripti {Lat,, Conscript 
Fathers) : the Roman Senate. 

Patriarch of Pemey, The : Voltaire 
(1694-1778), who spent the latter part 
of his life at Femey near Geneva. 

Patter : quick and thoughtless speech, 
esp. the chatter invented by a 
comedian on the stage. From Pater 
Noster, the Lord’s Prayer. 

Paul Pry, A : an impudent, meddlesome 
person. After a character in a comedy 
of that name by John Poole (1825). 

Paul’s man, A : a braggart. After St. 
Paul’s Walk, London, formerly the 
haunt of such characters. 

Paul’s Pigeons : the boys of St. Paul’s 
School, London. 

Paul’s Tide, St, : Jan. 25 and approxi- 
mate dates, the festival of the Con- 
version of St. Paul. 

Paul’s walkers : idlers who frequented 
St. Paul’s Cathedral, a resort of fashion 
during the period of the Common- 
wealth. 

Paulo post futumm tense. In the : in 
the immediate future. After a tense 
in the passive voice of Grk. verbs. 
[De Quincey, On Murder Considered 
as One of the Fine Arts (1827)] 

Pave the meadow, To : to act foolishly 
and to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Pax, Tocry peace) : to announce 

the cessation of the game or dispute. 



Paxj 267 

Pax Romana {Lat., Roman peace) : 

peace preserved by the incorporation 
of all countries in the Rom. Empire. 

Pax voMscum {Lat., peace be with you !) : 
a greeting. 

Pay a person in his own coin, To : to 
behave to a person in a manner similar 
to that in which he has behaved ; esp. 
to punish him. [Sir Walter Raleigh 
(1618)] 

Pay through the nose, To : to pay an 
absurdly high price. 

Pay with the roll of the drum, To : not 
to pay at all. A soldier cannot 
be arrested for debt when on the 
march. 

Pay off old scores, To : to revenge one- 
self. 

Paying guest, A : a boarder, i.e., a guest 
who pays for Iiis entertainment. 

Peace, To hold one’s : to keep silent. 
(14th cent.)] 

Peace with honour : the phrase used by 
Lord Beaconsfield to describe the 
results of the Berlin Congress of 1878. 
The phrase was used as early as the 
12th cent, by Theobald, Count of 
Champagne, in a letter to Louis le 
Gros, by Burke in his second great 
speech on conciliation with America 
(1775). a-ud by Lord Beaconsfield 
himself in the Rimnymede Letters 

(1S35). 

Peace, The inglorious arts of : [Andrew 
Marvell, Upon CromwelVs Return from 
Ireland (1650). 

Peace, Retrenchinent and Reform : the 

watchword of the Liberal Party, intro- 
duced by Charles, Earl Grey, on 
becoming Prime Minister in 1830. 

Peace, To smoke the pipe of : see Pipe. 

Peacemakers, The : the Bedfordshire 
Regt., wMch had no battles on its 
colours. 

Pear of Confession, The : an instrument 
of torture, shaped like a pear. 

Pearl of the East, The : Zenobia, Queen 
of Palmyra (3rd cent., A.D.). 

Pearl in price. Above a : of very great 
value. [Earl of Surrey, The Loner 
Excuseth Himself of Suspected Change 

(1557)] 

Pearl of the West Indies, The : Cuba. 

Pearls before swine, To cast : to waste 
an object of beauty on a person unable 
to appreciate it. [Alatthew, vii, 6 ; 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546) ; New 
Custom, I, i (1573)] 

Peasant Bard, The : Robert Bums 
(1759-96). 


[Pegasus 

Peasant’s War, The : the insurrection of 
the peasants of South Germany in 

1524-5. 

Peasant-boy Philosopher, The : James 
Ferguson (1710-76), Scot, astronomer 
and mechanician. 

Peceavi, To cry {Lat., I have sinned) : 
to admit an offence. [Marriage of Wit 
and Science, II, i (1570)] 

Peck of troubles, A : a quantity of 
trouble. [Archaeologia, XXV, 97 

(1535)] 

Pecker up. To keep one’s : to preserve 
one's courage and face events bravely. 
Pecker is a slang term for mouth, from 
to peck, 

Peckham, To go to : to go to dinner. A 
pun on peck. 

Pecksniff, A : a sanctimonious hypocrite. 
After a character in Dickens, Martin 
Chiizzlewit (1843). 

Pecksniffian : see Pecksniff, A. 

Peculiar Institution, The : in America, 
Negro slavery. The full title was 
‘ The peculiar domestic institution ot 
the South.* The phrase was used 
first in the South Carolina Gazette 
(c. 1852). 

Pedlar’s French : the jargon used by 
thieves, tramps, etc, A Frenchman 
was^ formerly a 5301 onym for a foreigner. 

Peel district, A ; a clerical district formed 
in consequence of legislation initiated 
by Sir Robert Peel. 

Peepiug Tom, A : an inquisitive person. 
After Peeping Tom of Coventry, 
celebrated in the legend of Lady 
Godiva. 

Peep o’ Day Boys: an Irish Presby- 
terian agrarian secret society, active 
from 1785 to 1790, which committed 
outrages against the Rom. Catholic 
population, generally at daybreak. 

Peg away. To : to continue determinedly 
on one's course. A camping metaphor. 

Peg a person back. To : to interrupt a 
person. 

Peg out. To : to die. 

Peg, To take down a : to put a braggart 
to shame. In allusion to the lowering 
of a ship's colours which used to be 
moved up and down by means of pegs. 
[Butler. Hudibras, II. ii (1663)] 

Pegasus : poetic inspiration. After the 
mythical horse, Pegasus, the stamping 
of whose hoof caused the fountain of 
the Muses to flow. 

Pegasus, To ride : to indulge in poetry. 
See Pegasus. [Walpole, Letter to 
\ George Montagu, May 5, 1761] 



Peine] 

Peine forte et dure (Fr.) : severe punish- 
ment or hardship. Properly, a manner 
of torture in the form of crushing to 
death. [Dialogue on Laws of England^ 
II. xli. 133 (1554)] 

Pelican State, The : Louisiana. After 
the pelican in its arms. 

Pelion upon Ossa, To heap : see Ossa. 

Pellean Conqueror, The : Alexander the 
Great, bom at Pella in Macedonia. 

Pelops, The Ivory shoulder of the sons of : 
a distinguishing mark. After the 
legend of the ivory shoulder supplied 
to Pelops by Demeter in place of that 
which had been eaten. 

Pen to paper. To set : to write. [Bunyan, 
Pilgriyyis Progress, Ft. I, Author’s 
Apology (1678)] 

Pen and inkhom clerk, A : a pedant. 
[Chettle and Munday, Downfall of the 
Earl of Huntingdon, I, iii (1601)] 

Penang Lawyer, A : a club ; properly, 
made from the stem of the dwarf palm 
of Penang. Humorously suggested as 
the means of settling disputes in Penang. 

Penates : one’s most valued household 
property. After Penates, the house- 
hold gods of the ancient Latins. 

Penelope, A (As faithful as) : the type of 
a faithful and domesticated wife. After 
the wife of Odysseus. [Pettie, Transl. 
of Guazzo, Civile Conversation, III 
(15S1)] 

Penelope, The web of : an endless work. 
In allusion to the story of Penelope 
who, in order to put oS her suitors 
until she had completed her weaving, 
used to unravel at night all that she 
had woven during the day. [Sir 
Thos. Overbury, Characters : A 
Melancholy Man (1616)] 

Peninsular State, The : Florida. 

Penitenfial Psalms, The: Psalms vi, 
xxxii, xxxviii, li, cii, cxxx, cxliii. 

Pen-name : see Nom de plume. 

Penny to bless himself with. Not a : no 
money at all, [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Penny Dreadful, A ; A Penny Blood : 
a cheap, blood-curdling story of 
exciting adventure. 

Penny gaff, A : see Gaff. 

Penny, To give one’s life for a : to 
abandon hoj:^ of escape from death. 
[Bunyan, Pilgrim*s Progress, Pt. I 
(1678)] 

Penny, in for a pound, Xn for a ; since 
one must be involved in the difidculty 
it matters not how deeply one is 
immersed in it. 


268 [Pepper 

Penny readings : popular readings or 
other literary entertainments, for 
admission to which the charge is a 
penny. 

Penny, To cost a pretty : to cost an 
indefinite but considerable sum of 
money. In allusion to the former 
sense of penny as an indefinite 
amount. 

Penny, To turn an (honest) : to earn a 
modest reward for honest work. 
[Foxe, Acts and Monuments, IM 
(1510)] 

Penny, To turn up (come back) like a 
bad : said of something you had 
cleverly passed on which comes back 
to you at par value. 

Penny Wedding, A : a rural wedding to 
which all are invited but expected to 
bring contributions, the smallest, that 
of a child, being a penny. 

Penny the worse, Not a : no worse off. 
Penny-a-liner, A: an unattached jour- 
nalist of a low grade. Lit. one who 
writes for payment at the rate of a 
penny a line. [Thackeray, Paris 
Sketch Book (1840)] 

Penny-father, A : a miser. [More, 
Utopia, II, vi (1516)] 

Penny wise and pound foolish : unwise 
thrift, of the nature of miserliness. 
[Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, 
To the Reader (1621)] 

PennsTworth, To get one’s : to get full 
value for one’s money. [Paston 
Letters, No, 757 (1475) ; Chapman, All 
Fools, II, i (1605)] 

Pens6e d’escalier : see Esprit d’escalier. 
Pensioned (Pexsioner) (Pensionary) 
Parliament, The : the parliament of 
1661-79. In allusion to the large 
number of its members who were in 
the enjoyment of pensions. 

Pentarchy, The : the five great powers of 
Europe before the rise of Italy. 
Pentateuch, The {Grk,, five books) : the 
five Books of Moses. 

People’s Charter, The : formulated by 
the Chartists in 1848 : — (i) Manhood 
Suffrage ; (2) Annual Parliaments ; 

(3) Vote by Ballot; (4} Abolition of 
Propert}’’ qualification for Parliament ; 
(5) Equal Electoral districts. 

People’s Friend, The : Dr. William 
Gordon of Hull (1800-49), philan- 
thropist. 

Pepper a person. To : to punish sharply. 
Attributive from the sense of applying 
pepper. [Life and Death of Capt. 
Thomas Stukeky, 11. 199-201 (1605)] 



Pepper] 269 

Pepper to Hindustan, To send : to per- 
form a work of supererogation. A 
Persian phrase. 

Pepper in the nose. To t^e : to take 
o&ence. [Langland, Piers Plowman 
(1362)] 

Pepper and salt : of clothing, a light 
grey speckled mixture of colours. 

Peppercorn rent, A : rent of a nominal 
amount. 

Per saltum : a promotion or preferment 
awarded without following the 
customary course. [Bacon, Essays : 

Of Envy (1625)] 

Perdu, To lie : to be concealed. Orig. 
a military phrase. 

P^e des Lettres, The (Fr., Father of 
Letters) : Francis I of France. 

Perfidious (Perfide) Albion: a desig- 
nation applied to England on the 
Continent. The term is probably 
derived either from a sermon preached 
by Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704), or 
from a remark by Mme. de Sevign6 
(1626-96). 

Perfumed terms of the time : euphem- 
isms. So-called by Ben Jonson. 

Pericles’ boast : that no Athenian had 
ever put on mourning through his 
severity, i.e., that he had never put an 
Athenian unjustly to death. Pericles, 
Athenian statesman, lived from 490 
to 429 B.C. 

Perpetual motion : an imaginary machine 
which, once started, goes on continu- 
ously until stopped by some external 
force. 

Persian Alexander, The : Sandjar 
(1117-58). 

Persian Horace, The : Omar Khayydm 
( 1 1 th and 1 2th cents.) . After Horace, 
the famous Rom. poet who lived from 
65 to 8 B.C. 

Persian King, The : C3rrus (d. 529 B.C.). 

Persona grata (Lat.) : an acceptable 
person. 

Persona gratissima (Lat.) : one who 
enjoys the greatest favour. 

Pert as a pyet. As : see Pyet. 

Pert as a sparrow. As : lively ; cheeky. 
[Christmas Prince^ II (1607)] 

Pert as a tailor at a wedding. As : very 
lively. The tailor was formerly 
expected to see his employer through 
the wedding, and was consequently 
very much at home during the accom- 
panying festivities. [Dekker, The 
Seuen Deadly Sinnes : Lying (1606)] 

Peru, To long for : to desire great 
wealth. In allusion to the fabulous 


[Petitioners 

wealth of Peru. [Sir Thos. Browne, 
Religio Medici, II (1643)] 

Peru, That is not : that is of not much 
account. In allusion to the belief 
that Peru was identical with El Dorado. 

Petard, Hoist with one’s own : caught in 
one's own trap. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, ii, 4 (1602-3)] 

P^taud, The Court of ]^g : a place of 
turmoil and confusion. King P^taud 
was the king of beggars. Lat., Peto, 
I beg. 

Peter, Blue : the blue flag flowm as a 
signal of recall in the British Mercantile 
Marine. Prop., Blue Repeater. 

Peter boat, A : a boat with bow and 
stem built alike so that it may be run 
into the water rapidly. Dutch, 
pethnr, to hurry. 

Peter Pm^, A : the confederate of an 
auctioneer among the audience. 

Peter the Packer : Peter, ist Lord 
O’Brien (1842-1914), Lord Chief 
Justice of Ireland. In allusion to his 
supposed practice of packing or care- 
fully selecting his juries. 

Peter to pay Paul, To rob : see Rob. 

Peter’s pence : orig. a voluntary tribute 
paid to the Pope, later claimed as a 
due. Not paid in England after 1365. 

Peterloo : the meeting of workers which 
was held in St. Peter’s Field, Man- 
chester in August, 1819, and was 
dispersed by armed force. The name 
was a coined resemblance to Waterloo. 

Peter-man, A : a fisherman. In allusion 
to the occupation of St. Peter. 

Peter-see-me : a Span. -wine. From the 
Span. Cardinal, Pedro Ximenes 
(1514-95), who introduced the grape 
into Spain. 

Petit Bleu, A (Fr., little blue) : a letter 
sent by pneumatic post. In allusion 
to the colour (blue) of the envelopes 
employed for these missives in the 
Fr. Post Office. 

Petit Caporal, Le : see Caporal. 

Petit maltre, A (Fr., little master) : a 
fop. [Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. 

71 (1751)] 

Petits Chevaux (Fr., little horses) : a 
mechanical gambling game played wdth 
toy race-horses. 

Petitio jprindpii, A: a begging of the 
question. [Tyndale, Exposition of 
I John, v, 1-3 (1531)3 

Petition of Right, A ; a legal means of 
demanding redress against the Crowm. 

Petitioners and Abhorrers: the fore- 
runners of the Whigs and Tories ; 



Petrarch] 

thoss who petitioned the throne in 
1680 to summon parliament and those 
who abhorred the presumption of the 
other party in doing so. 

Petrarch, The English : Sir Philip Sidney 
(1554-86). So-called by Sir Walter 
Raleigh. After Francesco Petrarch, 
Ital. poet, who lived from 1304 to 
1374 - 

Petrarch of Spain, The : Garcilaso de la 
Vega (1503-36). 

Petrel, A : a sea-fowl. After the apostle 
Peter. In allusion to his walking on 
the sea, as. to the casual observer, 
the petrel appears to do. 

P6trolenses : Parisian women who in 
the last days of the Commune scattered 
about the City, setting fire to public 
buildings. After the petroleum which 
they used. 

Petticoat Government : a system of 
government in which a woman or 
women have supreme influence or 
control. 

Petticoat influence : female influence. 

Pewter, To scour the : to work hard. 

Phaeton, A : a four-wheeled open 
carriage. After Phaeton, the son of 
Phoebus, who attempted to guide the 
chariot of the Sun. 

Phaeton’s bird : the swan. After the 
legend of Cyenus, grieving over the fate 
of Phaeton, and being metamorphosed 
into a swan. 

Phaeton’s Car : the chariot of the Sun. 

Pharaoh, A : a harsh, oppressive ruler. 
After the Pharaoh of the Exodus. 

Pharaoh’s chicken : a vulture. In 
allusion to its frequent appearance in 
Egyptian hieroglyphics. 

Pharian Fields, The: Egypt. After 
Pharos, the lighthouse on its coast. 

Pharisaical: hypocritical- After the 
Pharisees as portrayed in the N.T. 

Pharisaism : hypocrisy in religion. See 
Pharisaical. 

Pharisee, A : see Pharisaical and 
Pharisaism. 

Pharos, A : a lighthouse. After an 
island off Alexandria, on which 
Ptolemy Philadelphus erected his 
famous lighthouse. 

Pheasant, A Billingsgate: see Billings- 
gate. 

Phidias, The French : see French Phidias. 

Philadelphia Lawyer, A : an exception- 
ally shrewd lawyer. 

Philander, To : to make love as an 
amusement. After the lover in 
Anosto, OrlaTido Furioso (1516), 


[Philosopher 

Beaumont and Fletcher, Laws of 
Candy (1647), and other early plays. 

Philemon and Baucis ; a pair of fond and 
constant lovers. After a mythical 
couple who after their simultaneous 
death at a ripe old age were changed by 
Jupiter into trees. ' [Ovid, Met., S] 

Philip drunk to Pidlip sober. An appeal 
from : an appeal for second thoughts 
or a revised opinion given with deliber- 
ation. Philip of Macedon, when drunk, 
condemned a woman who, on his 
recovery of sobriety, appealed against 
his decision. * I would appeal to 
Philip, but when he is sober.' She 
gained the object of her petition. 

Philip of Macedon, As rich as : After 
Philip II of Macedon who captured the 
gold mines of Amphipolis. 

PMlippe Egalitd : Louis Philippe, Duke 
of Orleans (1747-93), cousin of Louis 
XVI. The name adopted by him 
when he adhered to the Fr. Revolu- 
tion. 

Philippi, To meet at : to keep a critical 
appointment unfailingly. In allusion 
to the rende2vous with Brutus ap- 
pointed at Philippi by the ghost of 
Julius Cassar. 

Philippic, A : a speech filled with in- 
vective. After the nine orations of 
Demosthenes against Philip of 
Macedon. 

Philistine, A : an ignorant, self-satisfied 
individual, generally of the middle 
classes, impervious to the influence of 
art or of anything else above the 
material. Term so applied by 
Matthew Arnold in the Cornhill 
Magazine. Possibly derived from 
PhiHster, a policeman or watchman in 
Germ, university towns with whom the 
students frequently came into conflict. 
Philistines, To have been among the : to 
be drunk. A pun on ' fill.* 

Philistinism : indifference to all except 
the material in life- See Philistine. 

Philomel : the nightingale. After 

Philomela, daughter of Pandion, King 
of Athens, who is fabled to have been 
changed into a nightingale. 

Philosopher of China, The : Confucius 
(c. 551-478 B.C.). 

Philosopher of Pemey, The : Voltaire 
(1757-1820), who ^nt the latter 
period of his life at Femey near 
Geneva. 

Philosopher with the golden thigh, The : 

Pythagoras (fl. 540-510 B.C.), Grk. 
philosopher. 



Pitaosoplier] 271 [Pidgin 


PMlosopher of Malmesbury, The : Thos. 
Hobbes (1588-1679), Eng. philosopher. 

Philosopher of Persia, The : Abou ibn 
Sina of Shiraz (d. 1037). 

Philosopher of Samosata, The : Lucan 
(39-65), the Rom. poet. 

Philosopher of Sans Sonci, The : 
Frederick the Great (1712-86), King 
of Prussia. See Sans Souci. 

Philosopher of Wimbledon, The : John 
Horne Tooke {1736-1812), Eng. 
politician. 

Philosopher’s stone. The : an imaginary 
substance capable of transmuting 
other objects into gold. 

Philosophy, The Father of : see Father of 
Philosophy. 

Philosophy, The Father of Inductive : 

see Father. 

Philosophy, The Father of Roman : see 

Father. 

Phlegrian size. Of : ^gantic. After the 
Phlegrsean Plain in Macedon, where 
the giants fought with the gods. 

Phocensian despair : despair that ends 
in victory. In allusion to the exploits 
of the men of Phocis when surrounded 
by enemies on an occasion in the 4th 
cent. B.C. 

Phoebe, As fair as : in allusion to Phoebe, 
the moon ; the sister of Phoebus (7.V.) . 
[Spenser, The Shepheard*s Calendar : 
April, II. 64-5 (1579)] 

Phoebas : the sun ; one of the names of 
Apollo, the sun-god. 

Phoebus’ Lamp : the sun. 

Phoenix, A : that which reappears after 
apparent destruction ; the emblem of 
immortality. After the fabulous bird 
which after destruction arises again 
from its ashes. 

Phoenix among * . A : unique among . . 
Because only one phoenix was sup- 
posed to exist at one time. [Shakes- 
peare, Cymbeline, I, vii (1610)] 

Phoenix period (cycle), A : the period 
between the appearances of the 
phoenix, according to difierent authori- 
ties ranging from 1500 to 300 years. 

Phylaet^, A : a symbol of righteous- 
ness ; an amulet. Properly a small 
box containing quotations from the Law 
worn by Jews while praying, in 
accordance with Deuteronomy, xi, 18, 

Phylacte^, To m^e broad the ; to 
advertize one’s righteousness. 
[Matthew, xxiii, 5] 

Phyllis, A: a country girl, esp. in 
pastoral poetry. So used by Virgil, 
Horace and other classical poets. 


Phyllise the fair. To to philander {q,v.). 

Physic to a dead man. To bring : to bring 
help too late. [Propertius, Elegies, II, 
xiv, 15-6] 

Physicians, The Prince of: Avicenna 
(980-1037), the Arabian. 

Pi<k and choose. To : to be fastidious. 
[Wm. Combe, Tour of Dr, Syntax 
(1812)] 

Pick a person’s brains, To : see Brains. 

Pick a hole in a person’s coat. To : to 
find fault with a person. [Bunyan, 
Pilgrim* s Progress, I (1678) ; Peter 
Pindar, Epistle to John Kichols 

(c* 1794)3 

Pick a quarrel. To : to seek an oppor- 
tunity for quarrelling, [Paston 
Letters (1449)] 

Pick straws, To : to display signs of 
fatigue. 

Pick up the thread of . - To : to recover 
a lapsed acquaintance with . . 

Pickle, In a : in trouble ; in a scrape. 
[Greene, Liberality and Prodigality, IV, 
iv (1602)] 

Pick-me-up, A : anything, esp. refresh- 
ment, likely to stimulate one’s 
energies. 

Pickwickian sense. In a : not to be taken 
literally, of words which would be 
insulting if they were taken so. In 
allusion to an incident narrated in 
Dickens, Pickwick Papers (1836). This 
incident was based on an occurrence in 
the House of Commons on the 17th 
April, 1823, when Henry (Lord) 
Brougham referred to George Canning’s 
conduct as * the most incredible speci- 
men of monstrous truckling, for the 
purpose of obtaining office, that the 
whole history of political tergiver- 
sation could furnish.* Whereupon 
Canning retorted, ' That is false,* and 
declined to withdraw the remark. 
The incident was, after some heated 
discussion, closed by Brougham stating 
that he was referring to Canning’s 
official character and Canning an- 
nouncing that his retort was made 
under the mistaken impression that 
his personal character was being 
impugned. 

Picture hat, A : an elaborate woman’s 
hat, copied from one depicted in a 
painting, 

Pid^ (Pigeon) English ; broken English 
mixed with Chinese, spoken by Chhiese 
in their intercourse with Englishmen 
and Americans. Lit. (in this dialect), 
busings English. 



272 


Pie] 

Ke, In spite of the : obstinately. The 
pie is the book of rules of service in 
the Rom. Catholic church. [Withal, 
Dictionaries p. 390 (1608)] 

Pie’s nest. To be in a : to be in a difficult 
situation. In allusion to the in- 
accessible situation in which the 
magpie builds its nest. 

He’s nest. To look for a : to seek for that 
which cannot be found. In allusion 
to the inaccessible position in which 
the magpie builds her nest. 

Hece of one’s mind. To give a : to tell a 
person unpleasant truths. [Gold- 
smith, The Goodnatured Man, IV, i 

nice de rfisistance, A (Fr) : the principal 
item in a group or series. 

Heces, To go to : see Go. 

Hed h terre, A {Fr., a foot on the ground) : 
a resting place. 

Hed de la letbre. An (Fr., at the foot of 
the letter) : literally. 

Hedmont, A : the nucleus, from which 
a state is built up. After Piedmont 
hrom which the kingdom of Italy grew. 

Re powder, A : a hawker ,* a chapman ; 
a travelling merchant. After the 
Court of Piepowders, formerly held at 
fairs and markets to administer 
justice among them. Lat., pede- 
pnlverosns, dusty footed. 

Herce Penniless, A : a person without 
money. 

Herian Spring, The : the inspiration of 
music and poetry. After Pieria in 
Thessaly, the legendary birthplace of 
Orpheus and the Muses. 

Pig with . . To : to crowd with in un- 
comfortable surroundings. 

Pig iion : iron in the piece. Molten 
iron is run oQ into a vessel called a 
sow. A play on words. 

Pig loves marioram, As a : not at all. 

Pig in a poke, To buy a : to purchase a 
bargain without exa m i n i n g it. Poke 
pocket. [Heywood, Proverhes 
(1546) ; Chaucer, Reeve*s Tale, 358 
(1386)] 

Pig to play on a flute, To teach a : see 
Teach. 

Pigs, An it please the : a reference to the 
boys of St. Anthony's School, Thread- 
needle Street, London, applied to them 
by their rival scholars of St. Paul's 
School. The application is derived from 
the story of St. Anthony preaching 
to the pigs. Other derivations are 
from the pyx in which the Host is kept 
in Rom. Catholic churches, when the 


[Pill 

phrase means, * If it please God,' and 
from the pixies or fai ries. Y et another 
suggested derivation is from piga 
(Sax.), a virgin. The phrase would in 
this case mean, ' With the permission 
of the Virgin Mary.* 

Pigs to market. To bring one’s : to do 
business. [Wm. Cartwright, The 
Ordinary, IV, iii (1651)] 

Hgeon English : see Pidgin English. 

Pigeon and hit a crow, To shoot at a : 
to make an intentional blunder. \The 
Loner Forsaketh His Vnkinde Loue, 

1- 8 (1557)] 

Pigeon pair, A : a boy and girl, the 
former not more than two years older 
than the latter. Possibly from the 
constancy of pigeons proverbial among 
birds, or from the belief that a pigeon 
always hatches only two young, male 
and female. 

Pigeon, To pluck a : to cheat a simple, 
gullible person. [Peter Pindar, 
Brother Peter to Brother Tom (1797)] 

Pigeons, To fly the : to steal coal while 
on the road to its destination. 

Pigeon’s milTr : an imaginary object 
which fools are sent to fetch. The 
idea is said to have originated with 
Aristophanes. 

Pigskin, In the : riding in a horse-race. 
In allusion to the material of which 
horse-saddles are made. 

Hg-tails, The : the Chinese. In allusion 
to the manner in which they wear 
their hair. 

Pike, To trail a : to serve as a soldier. 
[Churchyard, Chippes (1565)] 

Pikes, To pass the: to pass through 
difficulties and dangers. 

Pikestaff, As plain as a : see Plain. 

Pilate voice, A : a rough, loud voice, like 
that adopted by Pontius Pilate in the 
Mysteries. [Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 
3126 (14th cent.)] 

Pilate’s Bodyguard : see Pontius Pilate. 

Pile, To make one’s : to make a fortune. 
The phrase originated in America in 
the piles of coin that collect around a 
winner at a gaming table. 

Pilgrim Fathers, The: the Puritan 
refugees from England who founded 
the colony of New England, subse- 
quently merged in the U.S. of America 
in 1620. 

Pill to core an earthquake. To take a : 

to take altogether ineffective efforts to 
meet a considerable emergency. From 
a metaphor employed by Jolm Bright 
{1811-89), Eng. statesman. 



273 


Pill] 

Pill, To gild the : Gild. 

Pill to swallow, A bitter : a disagreeable 
person or experience. [Udall, Luke, 
iv (155^)] 

Pillar to post, To drive from : to keep a 
person perpetually moving. In 
allusion to the practice of moving an 
ohender, followed generally by a 
jeering crowd, from pillory to 
whipping-post. Other derivations are 
from (i) the riding school in the centre 
of which was placed a pillar and around 
it a number of posts ; or from (2) the 
Germ, von Pilatus zu Pontius (from 
Pilate to Pontius), i.e., from one to 
another for advice without any 
satisfaction. [He3nvood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Pillars of Heaven, The : the Atlas 
mountains. So-called by the Moors. 

PiUars of Hercules, The : see Hercules. 

Pillory, To : to expose to public scorn or 
indignation. In allusion to the pillory, 
the instrument of punishment in which 
offenders were confined in public. 

Pillow lace : lace made with the assist- 
ance of pins stuck in a cushion or 
pillow. 

Pilot balloon, A : in politics, a hint 
thrown out to ascertain the tendency 
of public opinion. 

Pilot Jack : the Union Jack when used as 
a signal for a pilot. 

Pilot who weathered the storzzi. The : 
William Pitt (1759-1806), who guided 
the state successfully through the 
critical period of the Napoleonic War. 
So-called by George Canning. 

Pin, Not to care a : to care nothing at ail. 
[Jas. Howard, All Mistaken, III 
(1672)] 

Pin to choose between, Not a : no differ- 
ence between. [Earle, Microcos- 
mography : A Scepticke in Peligion 
(1628)] 

Pin, Not worth a : quite worthless. 
[R. Wever, Lusty Juventus, 1 . 387 
(1560)] 

Pin’s head. As big as a : see Big. 

Pinch, At a : in an emergency. 

Pinchbeck : imitation gold. After the 
inventor, Christopher Pinchbeck (c. 
1670-1732), an Eng. watchmaker. 

Pindar, The British : Thomas Gray 
(1716-71). From his epitaph. After 
Pindar (c. 522-443 B.C.), the greatest 
of Grk. lyric poets. 

Pindar of England, The : George, Duke 
of Buckingham (1628-87). So-called 
by Cowley. 


[Piper 

Pindar, The French ; see French Pindar. 

Pindar, The Italian : Gabriello Chia- 
brera (1552-1637). 

Pindaric verse : lyric poetry. 

Pine-tree State, The : Maine. In 
allusion to its pine forests, and the 
pine-tree in its coat of arms. 

Pink of perfection. The : the acme of 
perfection. Pink, a point. 

Pin-money : the allowance of a husband 
to his wife for personal expenditure. 
At one time pins were very expensive. 

Pinpricks, A policy of : a policy of petty 
annoyances, generally as applied by 
one state to another. First used in 
The Times on Nov. 16, 189S. * Pin- 

pricks * was, however, used in this 
sense almost a century earlier. In 
the official account of the meeting 
between Napoleon and the Czar 
Alexander at Tilsit on the 22nd of June 
1807, Napoleon is reported to have 
said, ‘ For the maintenance of peace 
nations should avoid the pinpricks 
which forerun cannon shots.' 

Pious fraud, A : a deception practised for 
a supposed worthy object, e.g., for the 
furtherance of religion. The phrase 
formed a mot by Lord Bute in 1763 
in reference to a political action by 
Lord Shelburne. Fox, who was 
adversely affected, retorted, ‘ I can see 
the fraud plain enough, but where is 
the piety? * [Foxe, Acts and Monu- 
ments, III, 898 (1563)] 

Pipe one’s eye. To: to weep. Orig. 
nautical slang. 

Pipe of peace, To smoke the : to come 
to an agreement. In allusion to the 
N. Amer.-Ind. practice of smoking a 
pipe with a person with whom one 
wishes to be on good terms. 

Pipe and smoke it. To put a thing in one’s : 
addressed to a man to whom a rebuke 
or other unpleasant remark has been 
spoken. 

Pipes, To play on the still : to be silent. 

Pipeclay: routine. In allusion to the 
former use in the British army of pipe- 
clay for the cleansing of accoutrements, 
etc. 

Piper while others call the tone. To pay 
the : to bear the expense or loss while 
another person has the power of 
incurring it. [T. Flatman, Heraclitus 
Ridens, No. 29 (1681)] 

Piper for others to dance. To pay the : 
see Piper while others call the tune. 
[Moli^re, La Comiesse d* Escarbagnas, 
Sc. xxi] 

T 



®74 


Piper] 

Piper, To pay the : to pay the cost. In 
allusion to the legend of the Pied 
Piper of Hamelin concerning the pay- 
ment for whose services a dispute arose. 
[Congreve, Love for Love, II, v (1695)] 

Piping hot: like water that pipes or 
sings when it is about to boil. [Chaucer 
Canterbury Tales: Miller* s Tale, 
3377-8 (14th cent.)] 

Piping times of peace. The : an era of 
peace celebrated by music (of the 
pipes). [Shakespeare, Rickard 111 , I, 

i (1594)] . . ^ 

Pippa passes : a casual, passing innnence 
sometimes produces valuable results. 
As the innocent songs of the light- 
hearted Pippa, in Rob. Browning's 
poem, Pippa Passes (1843) exert here 
and there a beneficial i^uence on 
those who hear them. 

Pis-aller, A (Rr., go worst) : the worst 
choice and generally also the last 
choice. [Etheridge, Man of Mode, I, 
i (1676)] 

Pisgah, A : an outlook hill. After the 
mountain in Moab, from which Moses 
viewed the Promised Land. 

Pisgah sight, A : a view from afar. 

Hso’s justice : a moral injustice. 
According to Seneca, Piso on one 
occasion had three men unjustly 
executed, in each instance making out 
a sort of justification for his action. 

Pistol in the air, To discharge one’s : to 
make a pretence of fighting or 
opposing. 

Pit, The : the back portion of the groimd- 
floor of a theatre. Because the original 
Drury Lane Theatre was built on the 
site of a cockpit. 

Pitch black : intensely black ; as black 
as pitch, [Marston, The Scourge of 
Villanie, II, v, 197 (1599)] 

Pitch and pay. To : to pay on the spot. 
Probably ‘ to throw down one's money 
in payment.’ [Shakespeare, Henry V, 
II, hi (1599)3 

Pitchfork into • . To : to thrust a person 
arbitrarily into an office. 

Pi tfall, A : a hidden trap. Properly a 
pit (concealed) into which one may 
easily fall. 

Pitt Diamond, The : the Regent diamond 
brought to Europe by Thomas Pitt 
and sold to the Regent of Orleans 
in 1717 for jfi33,ooo. 

Pitt’s mark : the printer's imprint on a 
book, rendered necessary by William 
Pitt's Act of Parliament of 1799, 

Pitt’s pictures : blind windows, Intro- 


[Pten 

duced on the occasion of the increase 
of the Window Tax by William Pitt 
in 1784. 

Place Bill, The : the Act of Parliament 
of 1743, whereby holders of offices of 
profit under the Crown vacated their 
seats in parliament. 

Place aux dames {Fr., room for the 
ladies) : give way to the ladies. 
[Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental 
Journey (1768)] 

Place in the son, A : a share in the 
economic and political advantages 
derived from colonies and depen- 
dencies. A phrase used by William 11 , 
Emperor of Germany, at Hamburg, 
Aug. 27, igii. The phrase was used 
previously by Pascal in his Pensies, 
§ 73 {1669). 

Placebo, To sing : to endeavour to curry 
favour. From placebo, the Rom. 
Catholic vesper hymn for the dead. 
[Chaucer, Summcner*s TaU, I, 367 
(14th cent.)] 

Placebo, A song of : see Placebo, To sing. 

Plack and banbee (S^oi.) : to the last 
penny. 

Plague on both your houses ! A : an 
expression of annoyance with both 
parties to a dispute. [Shakespeare, 
RoTneo and Juliet, III, i (i 59 i“ 3 )] 

Plain, The : the Girondists in the Fr. 
Revolutionary Convention, who 
occupied seats lower than those of the 
Jacobins, or the Mountain (q»v,). 

Flaia as the nose on one’s face, As : very 
obvious. In allusion to the nose as a 
prominent feature of the face. 
[Borrough. On Hosea, p. 25 (1652)] 

Plain as a pikestaff, A& : obvious. In 
allusion to the pikestafi which clearly 
denoted the status of the pilgrim who 
carried it. [Richard Shaddock, 
Hatchet of Heresies (1565)] la 1542 , in 
Thomas Becon, Bake of Matrimony, 
the phrase appeared as 'plain as a 
packstaif.* A pikestaff (now only 
Scot.) was a long staff with a sharp 
pike in it. A packstaff is a staff on 
which a pedlar supports his pack 
while resting. 

Plain as print. As : manifest on the 
face of it. [Peter Pindar, Pindariana : 
Song (1794)] 

Plain dea^g : honesty. [Appius and 
Virginia, 1 . 961 (1563)] 

Plain sailing : an easy and straight- 
forward course. A nautical metaphor. 

Plan of campaign, The : a combination 
of Irish tenants between 1 880 and 188S, 



Planet] ^75 [PloTij3i 


formed to support one another in the 
refusal to pay rent. 

Flanet» To loe bom under a Inoky : to be 
fortunate. A metaphor from astrology. 

Plank in a platform, A : a principle in the 
programme of a political party. 

Plaster of Paris; gypsum. So-called 
from the quantity quarried near Paris. 

Platform, A : the programme of a 
political party. Term recently revived 
in the U.S., but in use in England in 
the 1 6th cent. [Lyly, Discovery of the 
New World, (1581)] 

Platine States ; the S. Amer. states which 
border on the River Plate, the 
Argentine, Uruguay and Paraguay. 

Plato, The German : Friedrich Heinrich 
Jacobi (1743-1819). After Plato (427- 
347 B.C.), the distinguished Grk. 
philosopher. 

Plato, The Jewish : Philo Judaeus (c. 
20 B.C. to 40 A.D.). 

Plato, The Puritan : John Howe (1630- 
1706). 

Plato’s year : a cycle of 25,000 years, in 
the course of which the stars all resume 
their original positions in the firma- 
ment. 

Platonic love : friendship, as distinct 
from love, between individuals of 
opposite sexes. After Plato (427~347 
B.C.), the Grk. philosopher, who 
advocated it. 

Platonic Puritan, The: John Howe 
(1630-1706), nonconformist divine. 

Plautine ; in ihe style of the Rom. comic 
poet, Plautus (d. 184 B.C.). 

Play one’s cards wdl. To: to make 
excellent use of one*s instruments 
and opportunities. 

Play f^e, To ; to deceive ; to betray. 
[Thos. Kyd, Jeronimo, Pt. I, 1. 796 

(159^)3 

Play fest and loose. To : to be undecided 
and irregular in one's negotiations and 
dealings. From the game of prick the 
belt, or prick the garter. 

Play on a flnte^ To teach a pig to : see 
Teach. 

Play the fool. To ; to behave foolishly. 
[I Samuel, xxvi, 21] 

Play to the gods. To : to vulgarize or 
prostitute one's talent. See Gods. 

Pl^ one’s hand for all it is worth. To : 
to avail oneself of one's opportunities 
to the fullest extent. 

Play into the hands of . - To : see Hands. 

Play one’s part. To ; to act for oneself. 
[Bacon, Essayes : Of Friendship 
(1611)] 


Play on words, A : a use of words to 
create ambiguity or give a double 
meaning. 

Played out : out of date ; exhausted. 

Playwrights of the gutter : writers foi 
the irresponsible sensational press. A 
phrase coined by Mr. Herbert Henry 
Asquith in the House of Commons, 
July 13, 1917- 

Pleased as Punch, As : see Punch. 

Plebeian : vulgar, relating to the 

common people. After Plebs, the 
Rom. class of the common people. 

Pledge, To take the : to enter into an 
engagement to abstain from intoxi- 
cating drink. In America often used 
with regard to tobacco also. 

Pleiad, The ; a group of seven Fr. poets 
who flourish^ in the i6th cent.-— 
Ronsard, Borat, Du Bellay, Remi- 
BeUeau, Jodelle, Baif and Thiard. After 
the Pleiades, the seven daughters of 
Atlas and Pleione, who were changed 
into stars. 

Pleiad of Alexandria, The : Callimachos, 
Appolanios of Rhodes, Aratos, 
Philiscos, Lycophron, Nicander and 
Theocritos. 

Pleiad of Charlemagne, The: Alcuin, 
Augilbert, Adelard, Biculfe Charle- 
magne, Vamefrid and Eginhard. 

Pleiad^ The second French; Rapin, 
Commire, I^ltuc, Santeuil, M&iage, 
Duperier and Petit. 

Plentifal as blackberries: very numerous, 
[Shakespeare, i King Henry IV, II. 
iv, 230 (1596-7)] 

PlimsoH line ; PlimsoU mark : see 
Plimsoll's Act. 

Plimsoll’s Act : the Merchant Shipping 
Act of 1876 which requires a certain 
standard of safety in ships permitted 
to put to sea. The PlimsoU Line or 
Mark is the waterUne of a fully- 
loaded ship in accordance with the Act, 
The Act was adopted as a consequence 
of the untiring efforts of Samuel 
PlimsoU, ' The Sailor's Friend ' 
(1824-98). 

piiny ^ The German : Konrad von Gesner 
of Zurich (1516-65). After Pliny, the 
Elder {23-79), a famous Roman 
naturalist. 

Phm-plon : Prince Napoleon (i 822-91), 
son of Jerome Buonaparte. The 
name is intended as an equivalent for 
craini-plomh, fearbuUet, and was given 
to him during the Crimean War in 
derision of his supposed cowardice. 

Plou^To; Ploughed, To be. 



Plough] 276 

Plough the air. To : to act foolishly. 
From an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Plough, To put (set) one’s hand to the : 
to undertake a task or course of action. 
[Luke, ix, 62] 

Plough a lonely furrow. To : to follow 
a course without associates. 

Plough Monday : the Monday after 
Epiphany on which men are supposed 
to resume work. 

Plough before the oxen. To put the : to 
act opposite to the natural order. 
[Ayenbite of Inwit, 243 (1340)] 

Plough a rock. To : to act foolishly. 
From an. ancient Grk. proverb. 

Plough the sand. To : to undertake fruit- 
less labour. [Ausonius, Epistulae. IV, 

3 ; J eremy Taylor, Liberty of Prophesy- 
ing (1647)] 

Ploughed, To be : to fail in sm examin- 
ation. * Plough * is apparently a 
corruption of ‘pluck’ (q.v,). 

Plover, To live like a : to live on nothing. 
After the supposition that a plover 
needs no food. 

Pluck : courage. Properly the heart, 
liver, etc., which are plucked away 
from the carcase of a sheep or hog. 

The heart and liver were formerly 
considered to be the seat of the 
quality of courage. 

Pluck, To : to cause to fail in an examin- 
ation. Apparently from the analogy 
of plucking a magpie of its feathers, 
Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, 5983 
(14th cent.)] 

Pluck a person’s goose for him. To : to 
expose a conceited individual. 
Suggested comparison with the 
plucking of a goose. 

Pluck a pigeon. To : to rob a person who 
is easily swindled. After * pigeon ’ in 
the sense of an innocent, harmless 
creature. 

Pluck at straws, To : to trust to hopes 
that are practically without 
foundation. 

Pluck up heart (courage). To : to arouse 
one’s courage. [R. Wever, Lusty 
Juventus, 1. 1018 (1560)] 

Plugson of Undershot : a t^ical Radical. 
Term invented by Thomas Carlyle. 

Plum, A {Span., pluma, wealth) : 
/ioo,ooo. 

Plum bed, A : a soft bed. Devonshire 
dialect. 

Plums of office. The : the good things 
(advantages) of ofl&ce. 

Plums out of the pudding, To pick the : 

to select the good things and leave the 


[Pocket 

inferior ones for others. [Sydney 
Smith, Peter Plyrnley^s Letters, Letter 
IX (1808)] 

Plumed Knight, The: James Gillespie 
Blaine (1830-93), Amer. statesman. 
So-called by R. G. Ingersoll in support- 
ing his nomination for the Presidency 
(1876). 

Plumes, In borrowed : with adopted but 
undeserved honours. In allusion to 
the fable of the jackdaw that bedecked 
itself with peacock’s feathers. 

Plump, To : to give all one’s votes to 
one candidate ; or to vote for one 
candidate only, not using one’s other 
vote or votes. 

Plunge, To take the : to take a definite 
step, after more or less hesitation. 

Plus Royaliste que le Roi (Fr., more 
royalist than the king) : extravagantly 
royalist. An expression used by 
Louis XVIII with reference to the 
emigres (q.v.). 

Plush, John : a footman. In allusion to 
the material out of which his uniform 
breeches are made. 

Plush, To take : to accept a subordinate 
position in a ministry. See Plush, 
John. 

Plutarch, The Modem : Francis Vayer de 
la Mothe (1586-1672). After Plutarch 
(c. 46-120), a famous Grk. biographer. 

Pluto : the grave. After the Grk. god 
of the dead. 

Plutocracy, A : government by the 
wealthy classes ; wealthy people as a 
class. See Plutocrat. 

Plutocrat, A : one who enjoys wealth 
while avoiding its responsibilities. 
After Plutus, the god of wealth. 

Plutonian : igneous ; infernal ; relating 
to the centre of the earth. After 
Pluto, the god of Hell. 

Plutoziist, A : one who holds the opinion 
that the world was evolved by means 
of a cooling-down process. See 
Plutonian. 

Plutus, As rich as : see Rich. 

Plymouth Brethren, The: an English 
Nonconformist sect, founded at 
Plymouth in 1830. 

Plymouth doak, A : a cudgel. ' Because 
we use a stafi in cuerpo (when we are 
nude), but not when we wear a cloak.’ 
Plymouth used to be a landing place 
for the indigent. 

Pocket, To be in (out of) : to profit (lose) 
by .. 

Pocket, An appeal to the : an argument 
based on or reinforced by cupidity. 



Pocket] 277 

Pocket Borough, A : see Borough. 

Pocket edition, A : a small copy of any- 
thing. Lit., an edition of a book sm^ 
enough to go into one^s pocket. 

Pocket an insult, To : to submit to an 
insult without apparent resentment. 
[Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune 
II, 1. 72 (1589)] 

Pocket Veto, A : automatic veto of a 
measure of the President of the U.S. 
by delaying a decision beyond a certain 
term. 

Poco a poco {It., little by little). 

Podsnap, A ; Podsnappery : a self- 
confident, self-opinionated individual. 
Self-suf&ciency combined with ignoring 
of the unpleasant. After a character 
in Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (1864). 

Poet of France, The : Pierre Ronsard 
(1524-85). 

Poet of Greta Hall, The : Robert Southey 
(1774-1843), who passed the last forty 
years of his life at Greta Hall, Keswick. 

Poet of Easlemere, The : Alfred, Lord 
Tennyson (1809-93), who lived at 
Haslemere. 

Poet Laureate : see Laureate. 

Poet, A minor : a poet of minor im- 
portance, [Ben Jonson, Time Vindi- 
cated (1623)] 

Poet of Poets, The : Percy Bysshe 
Shelley (1792-1822). 

Poet of the Poor, The : George Crabbe 
{1754-1832). 

Poet, The Quaker : see Quaker Poet. 

Poet Sire of Italy, The : Dante Alighieri 
(1265-1321), 

Poet’s Poet, The : Edmund Spenser 
(c. 1552-99)* From the admiration of 
him by contemporary and subsequent 
poets. 

Poets, The Prince of : Edmund Spenser 
(i553“99)* So-called on his monument. 

Poets, The Prince of Spanish : Garcilaso 
de la Vega {1503-36). So-called by 
Cervantes. 

Poetic Justice : the reward of the 
virtuous and the punishment of the 
guilty as described by popular novelists 
and other similar imaginative writers. 

Poetic Licence : the liberty to break the 
laws of grammar and prosody taken by 
poets when the needs of their art 
demand it. 

Poetry, The Father of ; The Father of 
Dutch ; The Father of English ; The 
Father of Epic : see Father. 

Poetry of motion. The : dancing. 

PolLu, A (Fr., hairy) : a Fr. private 
soldier on active service. In reference 


[Pompadours 

to the unshaven appearance of the 
soldiers in the trenches. 

Point d’appui, A (Fr., point of support) ; 
a base of operations. 

Point, To carry one’s: to have one's 
way. 

Point of . . To make a : to consider it a 
matter of duty to , . 

Point, To stretch a : see Stretch. 

Point of the sword. At the: under 
compulsion. 

Points, To give : to allow an advantage 
(to a rival or competitor). A card- 
playing or sporting metaphor. 

Point blank : direct, without disguise. 
A gunnery metaphor. [The Merry 
Devil of Edmontcni, 11. 16^-71 (1608)] 

Poire, La (Fr., The Pear) : King Louis 
Philippe, whose face was generally 
represented by caricaturists in the 
shape of a pear. 

Poisson d’Avril (Fr., fish of April) : an 
April fool {q.v.). 

Poker pictures : pictures drawn on wood 
by means of a red-hot poker. 

Poker talk : fireside chatter. 

Poles asunder : widely separated. 

Poles, As wide apart as the : Wide. 

Pole star to the North, As true as the : 
see True. 

Policy of pin pricks, A : see Pinpricks. 

Policy shop, A : an Amr. gambling 
ofSice. 

Polish Byron, The : see Byron. 

Polish Franklin, The : Todeusz Czacki 
(1765-1813), writer and promoter of 
education among the Poles. After 
Benjamin Franklin, Amer. statesman 
of the revolution (1706-90). 

Political arithmetio : statistics relating 
to a state. 

Political prisoner. A: a person im- 
prisoned for a political as distinguished 
from a moral ofience. 

Politics of the parish pump. The : local 
afiairs, as contrasted with the greater 
ones of the state. 

Polyphemus of Literature, The: Dr, 
Samuel Johnson (1709-84). After 
Polyphemus, in Grk. mythology, the 
most famous of the Cyclopes or 
monstrous giants. 

Polypus, As grasping as a : a reference 
to the polypus, an octopus. [Plautus, 
Aulularia, 1. 198] 

Pombodita : the land where the impossible 
happens. 

Pompadours, The : the 56th Regt. of 
Foot, now the 2nd Essex Regt. After 
the colour of the facings of their 



Pompey] 278 

uniform, purple, the favourite of 
Mme. de Pompadour. 

Pompey, A : a black footman. 

Pons asizioram {Lat,, asses' bridge) : 
the 5th proposition of the first book 
of Euclid. Because it is the first 
difi&cult proposition, at which most 
learners stumble. 

Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard: the ist 
Regt. ot Foot (RoyaJ Scots), the oldest 
in the British service. In allusion to 
an alleged boast of antiquity by one 
of its colonels. 

Pontypool waiter, As round as a : in 
allusion to the japanned waiter-trays 
formerly manufactured at Pont3q)O0l, 
Mon., the original place of manufacture 
of japanned ware. 

Pooh Bidi, A : an incompetent, foolish 
ofidcial who holds one or more ofidces. 
After the name of a character in 
Gilbert and Sullivan, Mikado (1885). 

Poor as a church mouse, As : since a 
church is one of the few buildings that 
contain no food. [1731; Peter Pindar 
Odd upon Odd {1785)] 

Poor as Job, As : sde Job. 

Poor John s salted and dried hake. 
Apparently because it is considered a 
type of poor fare. [Shakespeare, Thd 
Tempest, II, ii (1609-10)] 

Poorer than Ims : see Ims. 

Pop the question. To ; to propose 
marriage. In allusion to the sugges- 
tion that the proposal is always sudden 
and unexpected. [Smollett, Gil Bias, 

113 (1797)] 

Pope, The Black: the general of the 
Jesuits. 

Pope, To flrinlr like a : in allusion to the 
intemperate wine drinking of Pope 
Benedict XH. 

Pope of Geneva, The: John Calvin 
(1509-64), one of the founders of 
Protestantism, who lived at Geneva. 

Pope of Philosophy, The: Aristotle 
(384-322 B.C.), 

Pope, The Red : the Prefect of the 
Propaganda of the Churdi of Rome. 

Popes, The Age of the : see Age, 

Popes, Boy : John XII (93^-964), elected 



10. 


Pope’s nose. The: the parson's nose 

(7.V.). 

Pope-Figs : Protestants. A term applied 
to the Gaillardets in Rabelais, Panta- 
gruel, IV, 45, for saying ‘ A fig for the 
Pope.' 


[Possess 

Poplin : a silk and worsted fabric (Fr., 
popaline), made at Avignon, the 
residence of the popes. 

Popular Chamber, The : the House of 
Commons, as contrasted with the 
House of Lords. 

Populists, The : the people's pa^. An 
Amer. political party formed in 1891. 

Porch, The : the philosophical school of 
Stoics. After the Porch Poecile in 
which their founder Zeno used to 
lecture. 

Poxkopolis : (i) Chicago ; (2) Cincinnati. 
In both cases great pork packing 
centres. 

Porridge, To keep one’s breath to cool 
one’s own : to reserve one's advice 
for one’s own use. 

Port Royal : a religious and literary 
community formed in Paris at the end 
of the 1 6th cent. 

Porte, The Sublime ; Porte, The : the 
Turkish go vemm ent . After the build - 
ing in which its headquarters are 
situated. This building was orig. the 
gate of the Sultan's palace. Sublime 
Porte being a Fr. translation of 
Bdbi AU (Arab.), High Gate. 

Porterhouse steak, A : a steak cut from 
near the sirloin, such as that supplied 
at porter-houses, public-houses for 
the sale of porter. 

Portfolio, A : the ofbce of a minister of 
state. After the portfolio or despatch 
box he is supposed to carry. 

Portia, A : a female advocate. After a 
character in Shakespeare, Merchant of 
Venice {1596). 

Portland ^ne : a building stone, 
quarried in the Isle of Portland. 

Portmanteau word. A: an invented 
word which combines two others. 
Term invented by the Eng. humourist 
Charles Ludwidge Dodgson, 'Lewis 
Carroll' (1832-98). 

Portuguese Cid, tHie : Nunex Alvarez 
Pereira (1360-1431). The Cid is the 
favourite but almost mythical hero of 
Spain. 

Portuguese Horace, The : Antonio 
Ferreira (1528-69). After Horace, 
famous Rom. poet (65-8 B.C.}. 

Fosse, In : see In posse. 

Posse of . . A {Lai,, to be able) : a force 
or armed body of . • 

Posse comitatus, A {Lot., Force of the 
coimty) : a levy en masse of the men 
of a county. 

Possess one’s soul in patience, To : to 
exercise great patience. [Sir S. Tuke, 



Fossam] 

Adventures of Five Hours, V (1663) ; 
The Spectator, No. 610 (1714)] 
Possum, To play : to pretend ; esp. to 
malinger. In allusion to the habit of 
the opossum of pretending to be dead 
when in danger of attack. 

Post haste : rapidly ; quickly. A 
survival from the days of the post- 
chaise, which was then the quickest 
means of travelling. [Chapman, The 
Gentleman Usher, I, i (1606)] 

Post obit, A {Lat., post ohitum, after 
death) : an agreement to repay a 
loan with heavy interest after the 
death of a third person. 

Pot boiling, To keep the : to keep a 
business, proceeding, game, etc., in 
action with unabated energy. 

Pot calling the kettle black: blaming 
another while as much at fault oneself. 
[Wm. Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude, 
Pt. I, § 446 (1693)] 

Pot companion, A : a fellow drinker. 
[Bishop Latimer, Third Sermon before 
Edward VI (c. 1550)] 

Pot, To go to : to fail ; to fall to pieces. 
In allusion to the receptacle into which 
worthless odds and ends are thrown. 
[The Life and Death of Jacke Straw 
(1593) ; Nat Woodes, Conflict of 
Conscience, III, ii (1581)] 

Pot and kettle. To call each other : to 
accuse one another, both being equally 
offenders. After the proverb 'The 
pot calls the kettle black.' 

Pot luck : a meal composed of whatever 
food may happen to be available 
without special preparation. [Nashe, 
Summer's Last Will, 11. 1105-8 

(1600)] 

Pot pourri {Fr., putrid pot) : a mixture 
or medley. Properly a mixture of 
dried flowers or herbs. 

Pot quarrel, A : a drunken quarrel. 
[Hy. Porter, Two Angry Women of 
Ahington, 11. 195-8 (i599)] 

Pot to the roses. To betray the ; to let a 
secret be published. 

Pot shots at. To take : to aim for the 
sake of amusement at anything that 
happens to come within range. Orig. 
to fire at anything within range in 
order to provide a meal. 

Pot valiant : courageous in consequence 
of alcoholic stimulant. 

Pots, Brazen and earthen : the upper and 
the lower classes. After the fable of 
the Brazen and Earthen Pots, 

Potato bogle, A : a scarecrow : the head 
is generally formed of a potato. 


279 [Pouting 

Potatoes and point : a very meagre 
meal. At times of scarcity of salt 
parents used to tell their children to 
point their potatoes at the empty 
salt-cellar and imagine that they have 
the desired flavour. [Carlyle, Sartor 
Resartus, Bk. Ill, ch. 10 (1831)] 
Pot-boiler, A : a work of art or liter- 
ature, created in a hurry for immediate 
sale so as to obtain means both to 
boil the pot and to supply contents 
for it. 

Pothooks : hooked strokes, formed by 
children when learning to write. In 
allusion to their resemblance to hooks 
for suspending pots over the fire. 
[Cotgrave (1611)] 

Pothooks, The : the 77th Regt. of Foot, 
now the 2nd Middlesex Regt. In 
allusion to the fancied resemblance of 
the figure “ 7 " to a pothook. 

Potsdam : military and bureaucratic 
control in its severest form as practised 
under the German Empire. After 
Potsdam, one of the cities of residence 
of the Kings of Prussia and German 
Emperors. 

Pottage, To sell one’s birthright for a 
mess of : see Birthright. 

Potter, The Great : God. [Cowley. 

Essays : The Garden, ii (17th cent.)] 
Potteries, The Father of ttie : Josiah 
Wedgwood (1730-1795). 

Potwallopers : electors before the Reform 
Act of 1832 whose qualification rested 
on having boiled a pot in the constitu- 
ency for six months. 

Pound of flesh. To have one’s: to 
demand one's full bargain. In allusion 
to one of the central points of Shakes- 
peare, Merchant of Venice (1596), 
Pound water (in a mortar). To : to under- 
take a useless task. From an Ital. 
proverb. 

Pour encourager les autres : see Encour- 
ager. 

Pour rire {Fr., to laugh) : not to be taken 
seriously. 

Pour-boire {Fr., to drink) : a gratuity; 
a tip. 

Pourparler, A {Fr., to speak) ; an 
informal conversation as a preliminary 
to formal negotiations. 

Poussin, The British: Richard Cooper 
(c. 1730-1820). After Nicolas Poussin 
(1594-1665), a distinguished French 
painter. 

Pouting place of princes, The : Leicester 
Square ; because George II. and 
afterwards his son Frederick, Prince 



Poverty] 


280 


CProteadec 


of Wales, used to retire to his hoi^ 
there *when either quarrelled with 
his father. 

Poverty. The badge of : see Badge. 

Powder dry, To keep one’s : see Keep. 

Powder and shot. ITot worth : of lime 
value ; not wOTth the cost of shooting. 

Powers. The (Great) : Britain, France, 
Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia ^d 
more recently Japan and the United 
States. 

Powers that he, The : the authorities. 

Posiiing’s Law : an Irish Act of Parlia- 
ment of Z495, making all English 
legislation effective in Ireland, passed 
at the instance of the Lieutenant of 
Ireland, Sir Edward Poyning. 

Praetioal Joke. A : a tridc played on 
a person not only in order to make 
“him an object of ridicule but also at 
the risk of causing him injury or 
damage* 

Practical politics : a subject of practical 
as opposed to academic discussion. 
[Disraeli, Vivian Gray, Bk. II, ch. 14 

Praetor^ Pretozlazi. A: a supporter 
of an established system. Ses 
Pretorian Guard. 

Praetozian Guasrd : see Pretorian Guard. 

Prague, The Arti(to of : the confession 
of faith of the Hussites, published in 


Z430. 

Pxaixie State. The : Illinois, on account 
of its vast extent of prairie lands. 

Prairie value : the value of land as if 
it were a prairie or unused. The 
phrase was first used by John Bright 
(zSzz-Sg), English statesman. 

Praise £com Sir Hubert: genuine un- 
alloyed praise. * A|^robation from 
Sir Hubert Stanley is praise indeed.' 
[Thomas Morton, A cure far the heart- 
ache, V, ii (z8io)] 

Praise to the ddeB. To : to praise very 
highly. [Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to 
the Royal Academicians for 1785, 
Ode adv] 

Ptamnian hDxturc^ The : an intoxicating 
drink. After the Pramnian grape. 

Prayer-book parade: Church parade 
(q.v.). 

Preacher. The : King Solomon, reputed 
author of Ecclesiastes or KoheUth (The 
Preacher). 

Preacher. The Olonona : St. Chrysostom 


I little : Samuel de Marets 
(Z599 -'z 663), Protestant ccmtroveisial- 
ist. 


Preahher, The UnlSair: Isaac Bazron 
(1630-Z677), so called by Charles IL 
because he always exhausted his 
subject and left nothing to anyone 
else to say. 

Pzdeiense. A : a woman who affects 
literary taste, esp. one who is over 
refined. From the title of Molibre's 
comedy, Les Prideuses ridicules, 
Molibre's satire was directed agmnst 
'Les Pricieuses,' a Parisian society 
of pseudo-savants, of both sexes, of 
the ZTth cent. 

Predons school. The : the school of 
poetical euphuists who succeeded 
John Lyly (1533-1606). 

Predominant pa^cr. The : Great 
Britain as compared with Ireland, in 
the partnership of the United King* 
dom. Term used by Lord Rosebery 
in the House of Lords (Mardi, Z894) 
and at Edinburgh (March ZTth, 
Z894). 

Pr^eodlio : dating from before the 
exile of the Jews to Babylon. 

Prelimiiiaiy canter. A : a minor matter 
that pre^es the real business of the 
occasion. Racing metaphor. 

Premibre. A {Fr,, first) : the first night 
of a play. [Z884] 

Premier pas qui oohte. Ce n’est que le 
(Fr.) : it is only the first step that 

Pre-Baphaelites, The: the Eng. Z9th 
cent, school ol painters who reverted 
to the style of art in force before the 
era of Raphael. The orig. members 
were Holman Hunt, D. G. Rossetti 
and Sir John Millais, who were after- 
wards joined by W. M. Rossetti, 
Thomas Woolner, F, G. Stephens and 
James CoUinson. 

Presbytezian true blue : in allusion to the 
blue aprons whicdi Puritan preachers 
used to place on their improvised 
pulpits. 

Presents. By these : by the documents 
present. A legal term. [Chapman, 
Monsieur d* Olive, V, i (1606)] 
Preston and his maditEs, To oppose ; to 
be foolhardy. In allusion to the bear 
garden kept by Christopher Preston 
at Hockley in the Hole in the reign of 
Charles II. 

Pretender. The Old: James Frands 
Edward Stuart (1688-Z766), son of 
James II of England. 

Pretender, The Young : Charles Edwazd 
Stuart (z 720-88), son of the Old 
Pretender. ' 



Pretoriaa] aSi [Princ® 


Pretorian Guard* The : the guard of the 
Rom. emperors which ultimately 
secured, liie power of deciding the 
succession to the throne. 

Pretty kettle of fish, A : see Fish. 

Pret& penny, A: a relatively large 
amount of money. 

Preux Chevalier, A (Fr.) : a gallant 

knight. 

Priam, As old as : in allusion to Priam, 
the last king of Troy. 

Price, Not at any : in no circumstances. 

Pricks, To kick against the : see Kick. 

Prick-eaxed Cur, A : a Roundhead. 
Because the Roundheads wore skull 
caps on their short hair, thus leaving 
their ears exposed. 

Pride of place: precedence. Orig. a 
falconry term. 

Pride in one’s pocket. To put one^s : to 
suppress one’s pride for the time being. 

Pride’s Purge : the action of Colonel 
Thomas iSide and his men in 1648 of 
forcibly exdudmg from the House of 
Commons all who were suspected of 
royalist tendencies. 

Priest of the blue bag, A • a barrister. 
In allusion to the colour of the bag in 
which he carries his gown, etc. 

Priest of Nature, The : Sir Isaac Newton 
(1642-1727), Eng. natural philosopher. 

Prima donna, A {It*, first lady) : the 
leading lady vocalist in an opera. 

Pxima fade {Lot., in the first face) : on 
the face of it, without careful con- 
sideration. (Geo. Cavendish, Life and 
Death of Wolsey • Prologue (1557)] 

Primitive Fathers, The : the fourteen 
church fathers who lived in the first 
three centuries. 

Prboirose Dame, A : a lady member of 
the Primrose League {q*v.). 

Primrose Day : the 19th of April, the 
anniversary of the death of Lord 
Beaconsfield (1804-81), whose favour- 
ite flower the primrose is said to have 
been. 

Primrose League, The : an Eng. Con- 
servative League, founded in memory 
of Lord Beaconsfield (1804-81), whose 
jfeivourite flower is said to have been 
the primrose. 

Primrose path (way), The : the pleasant 
road. [Shakespeare, Macbeth, II, iii 
(1605-6)] 

Primrose Sphynx, The : Benjamin 
Disraeli,Earl of l^aconsfield (1804-81). 
In allusion to the sphynx-like impene- 
trability which he practised, and his 
fondness for primroses. 


Primum Idobile [Lat,, the first moving 
thing) : in medieval astronomy, the 
outermost sphere, supposed to revolve 
round the earth ; an original cause of 
motion. 

Primus inter pares (LaU) : first among 
equals. 

Prince of the Air, The : Satan. [Milton, 
Paradise Lost, X, 185 (1667)] 

Prince of Alchemy, The : Rudolph II 
(1552-1612), Emp. of Germany. 

Prince of Ang els, The : Michael. [Milton, 
Paradise Lost, VI, 281 (1667)] 

Prince of Apostles, ^e : St. Peter. 

Prince of the Blood, A : see Blood. 

Prince of Celestial Armies, The : 
Michael. [Milton, Paradise Lost, VI, 
44 (1667)3 

Prince of Dandies, The : see Dandies. 

Prince of Darkness, The : Satan. 
\Episile to the Ephesians, vi, 12] 

Prince of Denmark, The : Hamlet. After 
the principal character in the play of 
that name by Shakespeare. 

Prince of Destruction, The : Timur 
Tamerlane (1333-1405), the Tartar 
conqueror. 

Prince of the Devils, The : Satan. [S/. 
Matthew, xii. 24] 

Prince of Gossips, The : Samuel Pepys 
(1632-1703). In allusion to his 
gossipping diary. 

Prince of Granuuarians, The : see 
Grammarians. 

Prince of Hdl, The : Satan. 

Prince of Hypocrites, The : the Emperor 
Tiberius (42 B.C.-37 A.D.). 

Prince of the King s of the Earth, The : 

Christ. [Revelations, i, 5)] 

Prince of liars. The : Fernando Mendes 
Pinto (c. 1509-83), Portuguese 

traveller. So-called by Cervantes. 

Prince of Light, The : Christ. 

Prince of Music, The : see Music. 

Prince of the Ode, The:i Pierre de 
Ronsard (1524-85), Fr. poet. 

Prince of Painty The : (i) Parrhasius 
(fi. 400 B.C.), Grk. painter, so-called 
by himself ; (2) Ap^es (fl. 330 B.C.), 
Grk. painter. 

Prince of Peace, The: the Messiah. 
[Isaiah, ix, 6] 

Prince of Physicians, The: Avicenna 
(980-1037), Arab, physician and 
philosopher. 

Prince of Poets, The : (i) Virgil (70-19 
B.C.) ; (2) Edmund Spenser (i553'~99), 
Eng. poet, so-called on his monument. 

Prince of the Power of the Air, The : 

Satan. [Epistle to the Ephesians, ii, 2] 



Prince] 282 [Progc 


Prince of Princes, Xhe : Christ. 

Prince Rupert’s drops : pla3^hings con- 
sisting of drops of glaSs, invented or 
introduced into England by Prince 
Rupert (c. 1640). 

Prince of Soot, The : Satan. 

Prince of Spani^ Poetry, The : Gardlasso 
de la Vega (1503-36). So-called by 
Cervantes. 

Pzmce of the vegetable kingdom, The : 

the palm tree. So-called by linnaeus. 

Prince of this World, The : Satan, 
adv, 30] 

Princess peers : men not belonging to 
noble or gentle families who are raised 
to the peerage. 

Piinkled in all one's finery. To be : to be 
•elaborately attired (to piinkle to 
sparkle) . 

Printer’s devil, A : see Pevil. 

Printing, The Father of Engtoh : 

William Caacton (14x2-91). 

Prisdan’s head. To br^: to out- 
rage the rules of grammar. After 
Prisdan (fl. 500-25), a famoxis Lat. 
grammarian. [Butler, Hudibras, II, 
2 (1664)] 

Prisoner of the Vatican, The : Pope Pius 
IX, after the incoiporation of Rome 
in the Kingdom of Italy, whereupon he 
refused to leave the Vatican and tread 
on Italian as distinct from Papal 
soil. 

Pro and con : for and against. Con- 
traction of Lat., fro and contra, 
[Beryn, 2577 (1400)] 

Pro bono pnblico (Lat,, ior the pnbhc 
good) : [Gilbert, Cases in Law and 
Equity (1760)] 

Pro lege, rege et patria (Lot,) : for the law, 
for the king and for the country. 

Pro tanto (Lat,, for so much) : as an 
instalment. 

Pro tern : temporarily ; for a short time. 
Contraction of Lat., fro temfore, ior 
the time. [Evelyn, Diary, May 21, 
1645] 

Proc&i Verbal, A (Fr,] ; a detailed 
o£&cial statement. 

Procris, Unerring as the dart of: in 
allusion to the un«xing dart given to 
Procris by Diana. 

Procrustean bed, A ; A bed of Pro- 
ornstes : a fordble method of insti- 
tuting confonnity. Procrustes, of 
Attica, was a famous robber who used 
to tie his victims to a bed and cut 
down their length if they were too 
tall or torture them by stretching if 
they were too short. 


Proctor, The King’s : an ofddal of the 
Divorce Court who has the right to 
intervene in divorce suits. Orig. an 
official of an ecclesiastical court. 

Prodigal (son), A : one who spends his 
time in pleasure and extravagance, 
but afterwards repents and is for^ven. 
[Luke, XV ; Nat. Woodes, Conflict of 
Conscience, II, iii (1581)] 

Prodigy of France, The: Guillaume 
Budd (1467-1540), Hellenist. So- 
called by Erasmus. 

Prodigy of Learning, The : Samuel 
Hahnemann (i 755 “i 843 )> Germ, 
physician and author of homceopathy. 

Profanum vnteius (Lat,, the profane 
crowd) : the lower classes. 

Profound Doctor, The : Thomas Brad- 
warden (c. 1290-1349), Archbishop of 
Canterbury. 

Profound Doctor, Most : Aegidius de 
Columna (fi. 1287), Sicilian schoolman. 

ProhibitiQnist, A : an advocate of 
prohibition of the manufacture and 
sale of intoxicating drink. 

Proletariat, The : the lower classes ; the 
people generally. Proletarii, the sixth 
class of Servius Tullius in Rome. 

Promethean : inspiring. After Prome- 
theus, who in mythology stole fire 
from heaven in order to enable himself 
to create men from clay. 

Promethean fire : see Promethean. 

Promise golden mountains, To : to act 
foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Promised Land, The : Palestine. In 
allusion to the divine promise to 
Abraham and his descendants. 

Pronunciamento, A (Sfan,, a prodam- 
ation) : a revolution in Spain or Span.- 
America effected by a general with 
the support of his troops. 

Propaganda, The College of the : a papal 
council, the Congregatio de Propa- 
ganda Fide, formed to propagate the 
Rom. Catholic faith in distant lands. 
It has control over all Rom. Catholic 
foreign missions. 

Prophecy upon velvet, To : to prophecy 
that which is certain. 

Prophet, The : Mohammed. 

Prophet’s mantle, The: the succession 
to an important office. In allusion to 
the mantle cast by Elijah on Elisha 
as the former ascended to heaven. 

Propria persona, Li (Lat,) : in one's own 
person. 

Prose, The Father of English : Father 

of English Prose. 



Prose] 283 [Pull 


Prose, The Father of French; The 
Father of Greek ; The Father of 
Italian ; Father. 

Prosperity Robinson : Frederick 

Robinson, Earl of Ripon (17S2-1859). 
On account of his references to British 
prosperity immediately before the 
financial crisis of 1825. So-called by 
Cobbett. 

Protean : see Proteus, A. 

Protection : the economic system of im- 
posing import duties in order to 
‘ protect * home productions. 

Protectionist, A : an advocate of Pro- 
tection (q.v.). 

Protestant, A : orig. one of a party in the 
church who adhered to Martin Luther 
in protesting against the decree of the 
Emperor Charles V. Now a member 
of the Reformed Church. 

Protestant Dnke, The: the Duke of 
Monmouth (1649-85), who abandoned 
Rom. Catholicism for Protestantism. 

Protestant Hero, The : Frederick the 
Great of Prussia (1712-86). So-called 
by the English. 

Protestant Martyr, The : Sir Edmund- 
bury Godfrey (1621-78), a London 
magistrate, murdered, as it was 
thought, as a part of the Popish Plot. 

Protestant Pope, The : Clement XIV 
(1708-74), who suppressed the Jesuits. 

Proteus, A : a person who readily 
changes his form or appearance. After 
Proteus, a sea-god who assumed 
different shapes. 

Proto Martyr, The : Stephen, the first 
martyr. [Acts, v, 7] 

Proud as a peacock. As : peacocks have 
always been proverbial for their pride. 
[Ovid, Metamorphoses, XIII, 801-2 ; 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 3926 (14th 
cent.)] 

Proud Duke, The : Charles Seymour, 6th 
Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), who 
would not allow his children to be 
seated in his presence and who refused 
to speak to servants. 

Province of Brick, The : London. So- 
called by Madame de Stael (1766- 
1817). 

Prudent tree. The : the mulberry, which 
never puts forth its leaves until winter 
is well over. So-called by Pliny, 

Prudhomme, A Monsieur ; a seH-satis- 
fied person. After Joseph Prud- 
homme, a character in Henri Monnier, 
Les Memoir es de Joseph Prudhomme 

(1857). 

Prudhonmies, A Coundl of : in France a 


committee composed of employers and 
workmen appointed to settle disputes. 

Prunella : see Leather and Prunella. 

Prusse, To work for the Roi de : see Roi 
de Prusse. 

Prussian blue : because it was discovered 
by a Prussian, Diesbach, in 1710. 

Pry, A Paul : a person who interferes in 
the affairs of others. After the title 
of a novel by John Poole (1825). 

Psaphon’s birds : flatterers. After the 
story of Psaphon training innumerable 
birds to pronounce his name and then 
setting them free in the world. 

Psyche’s task, A : a heavy, exhausting 
task. In allusion to the task imposed 
on Psyche, the oppressed slave of 
Venus. 

Ptolemaic System of Cosmogony, The: 

the system taught by Claudius Ptole- 
maeus (fl. 139-161), Egyptian mathe- 
matician, astronomer and geographer, 
that the earth is fixed and that the 
heavens revolve around it. 

Pncelle, La (Fr., The Virgin) : Joan of Arc. 

Pudding for a friar’s mouth. As fit as a : 

see Fit. 

Pudding time, To come in: to come 
opportunely. In former times the 
pudding was the first course of a 
dinner. [Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Puff a thing. To : to praise unjustifiably. 
[Chesterfield, Letters (1749) ; Pope, 
Satires, Prologue, 232 (1735)] In 
allusion to the old pictures of Fame 
puffing forth praises from a trumpet or 
to the puffing out of the carcases of 
beasts or birds to make them appear 
more agreeable as food. 

Puff oneself out like a frog. To : to swell 
with self-conceit until, like the frog in 
the fable which desired to emulate the 
size of an ox, one bursts. 

Puffed up : conceited. [I Corinthians, 
iv, 6 ; Gosson, Schoole of Abuse 

(1579)] 

Pull bacon, To : to make an offensive 
gesture, by spreading the fingers out 
from the nose. 

Pull devil, pull baker : an incitement to 
effort. 

Pull one’s leg. To : to impose upon ; to 
humbug. 

Pull the strings (wires), To : to direct or 
control without making oneself 
prominent ; like the man who pulls the 
strings which cause the marionettes 
to move. 

Pull up stakes. To : to abandon one's 
home. 



Fnllman] 284 

Pullman, Pullman car. A: a railway 
saloon carriage containing restaurant 
or hotel accommodation. From the 
Amer. inventor, George Mortimer 
Pullman (1831-97). 

Pulver Weiiesday : Ash Wednesday. 
Pulver = dust. 

Pump a person. To : to obtain informa- 
tion from a person. [Earle, Micro- 
cosmography : A Pretender to Learning 
(1628)] 

Pumps : dancing shoes. After the 
Pump Room at Bath and other spas, 
or from * pomp.' [Nashe, Piers 
PenrMess (1592)] 

Punch, As pleased as : very pleased and 
joyful. In allusion to the marionette. 
Punch, who fills in all his leisure with 
song. Punch is from Puncliinello, a 
character in Neapolitan comedy. 

Punch, A Suffolk : a carthorse. 

Punch’s advice to those about to marry : 

* Don't.* [Punch Almanac, January 

1845] 

Pundit, A : a learned person, used some- 
what contemptuously. I^operly, a 
learned Hindu. 

Punic Faith : treachery. After the 
character attributed to the Puni or 
Carthaginians by the Romans. 

Puritan, A : (i) a seceder from the 
Reformed Church, who claimed that 
his form of religion was purer than 
that which he had left ; (2) a prude. 

Puritan Anthem, The: the hundredth 
psahn. 

Puritan City, The : Boston, U.S.A. 

Puritan Plato, The: see Plato, The 
Puritan. 

Puritanical : overstrict in morality ; 
rigidly and najrrowly religious. From 
the Puritans or early Eng. noncon- 
formists. 

Purple, The : the rank of cardinal. In 
allusion to the scarlet colour of the 
official dress of that office. Purple 
was a badge of distinction in early 
Rome. 

Purple, In : in luxury. In allusion to 
the imperial colour. [Dekker, The 
Setien Deadly Sinnes : Politick 
Bankruptisme (1606)] 

Purple, To assume the : to attain to the 
imperial dignity. After the colour of 
the dress of Rom. emperors, etc. 

Purple, Bom in the : see Bom. 

Purple, Born to the : bom of high rank ; 
see Purple, To assume the. 

Purple deeds : bloody deeds. [Second 
Maiden* s Tragedy, III, i fi6ir)] 


[Pyrrhic 

Purple and fine linen : magnificence and 
splendour. [Exodtts, xxvi, i ; Esther, 
i, 6, etc.] 

Pmble leaves of war : see Unclasp. 

Purple patch, A : a * splendid ' or 
gorgeous literar^^ passage. [Horace, 
Ars Poetica, 15] 

Purple tyrants : in allusion to purple, 
the imperial colour. 

Purse strings, To hold the : to control 
expenditure. 

Puseyite, A: see Oxford Movement. 

Push an open door. To : to exert pressure 
where no resistance is offered. 

Push-pin player, A : one who wastes his 
time in trivialities. In allusion to the 
child's game of push-pin. 

Pusssrfoot, A : an extreme advocate of 
the prohibition of the manufacture 
and sale of alcoholic drink. The word 
was introduced from the United States 
about 1919. Three or four years 
earlier, however, the word * pussy- 
footing ' had been used to indicate very 
careful speech and action on the part 
of a politician in order to avoid 
committing himself to a definite policy. 
In allusion to a pussy or cat w^alking 
among china or other objects of a 
fragile nature. 

Put a girdle round. To : to travel round. 
[Sh^espeare, Midsummer Night* $ 
Dream, II, i, 175 (1590)] 

Put one’s hand in one’s pocket, To : see 
Hand. 

Put a hat on a hen, To : to act foolishly. 
From an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Put one’s pride in one’s pocket, To : see 
Pride. 

Put a rope to the eye of a needle. To : 
to act foolishly and to no purpose. 
From an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Put to the touch. To : see Touch. 

Putney, Go to : an expression ot im- 
patience. Putney was formerly con- 
sidered outside of the pale of society. 

Put-up job, A : something concocted or 
arranged beforehand. 

Pyet, As pert as a : from pyet, a magpie. 
[Scott, Ivanhoe, ch. 32 (1819)] 

Pygmseus, As sm^ as : from ^gmaeus, 
the name of an African race of dwarfs. 

Pylades and Orestes : two friends whose 
friendship has become proverbial. 

Pyrrhic Dance, The : the most famous 
war-dance of antiquity. After 
Pyraichos, a Dorian. 

Pyrrhic victory, A : a victorjr as costly 
to the victor as to the vanquished. 
From the victory gained by Pyrrhus 



Pyrrhonism] 285 [Qne 


(318-272 B.C.), King of Epirus, over 
the Romans at Asculum in 278 B.C. 
He is said to have exclaimed after the 
battle, * One more such victory over 
the Romans and we are lost.' 

Pyrrhonism : scepticism. After PjTrho, 
founder of the Sceptics (360-270 B.C.). 

Pythagoras, As silent as : in allusion to 
Pythagoras ( 6 th cent. B.C.), Grk. 
philosopher. [Marston, Satires, I, iii 
(1599) I* Smollett, Roderick Random, 

357 (1748)] 

Pythagorean, A : one who has been 
transformed. In allusion to the 
doctrine of the transmigration of souls, 
attributed to P3d:hagoras of Samos 
(6th cent. B.C.). 

Pythagorean letter. The: the Grk. y, 
used by Pythagoras (582-500 B.C.), as 
a symbol of the two divergent paths 
of virtue and vice. 

Pythagorean System, The : the phil- 
osophy taught by Pythagoras (582- 
500 B.C.), that the sun is a movable 
sphere, around which the earth and 
planets revolve. 


Q.E.D. (Lot., quod erat demonstrandum, 
what was to be proved) : the legend 
with which all theorems in Euclid 
conclude. 

Quack, A : a charlatan ; an imposter ; 
an empiric. In allusion to the sound 
made by itinerant peddlers at fairs in 
order to attract customers. Orig., 
* quacksalver,' shortened to ‘ quack.' 
[Wycherley, Love in a Wood (1671)] 

Quadrilateral, The : the four fortresses 
of Northern Italy — ^Peschiera, Mantua, 
Legnago and Verona. 

Qua£ilateral, The Bulgarian : the four 
fortresses — ^Vama, Silistria, Rustchuk 
and Schumla. 

Quadrilateral, The Prussian : the four 
fortresses — ^Luxemburg, Coblentz, 

Sarrelouis, and Mayence. 

Quadrivium, A : a medieval course of 
studies in four subjects — arithmetic, 
astronomy, geometry and music. 
Quadruple Alliance, The : (i) the 

alliance of 1674 between Germany, 
Spain, Denmark and Holland against 
France; (2) the aUiance of 1718-^ 
between Great Britain, France, Austria 
and the Netherlands, against Spain ; 
(3) the alliance of 1834 between Great 
Britain, France, Spain and Portugal, 
against the Pretenders, Don Miguel of 
Portugal and Don Carlos of Spain. 


Quai d’Orsay, The: the Fr. Foreign 
OfiBice. After the quay in Paris on 
which it is situated. 

Quaker, A : a member of the Society of 
Friends. Orig. a nickname in allusion 
to the ' quakings ' which their preachers 
underwent in the course of their 
religious enthusiasms. According 
to George Fox, the name was given 
to the sect by Justice Bennet of 
Derby (1650), who had been bidden 
by Fox to ' quake and tremble at the 
word of the Lord.' 

Quaker City, The : Philadelphia, which 
was founded by Quakers. 

Quaker Poet, The : (i) in England, 

Bernard Barton (1784-1849) ; (2) in 
America, John Greenleaf Whittier 
{1807-92). 

Quaker’s bargain, A ; a business ofier 
that may be accepted or rejected but 
not modified. 

Quaker-coloured : drab or grey. In 
allusion to the simple, plain attire of 
the Quakers. 

Quality, The : the upper class socially. 
[Shakespeare, Henry V, IV, viii (1599)] 

Quantity negligeable, A {Rr., a negligible 
quantity) : that which may be ignored. 

Quarantine : segregation of a person or 
ship in consequence of infectious 
disease. (Lat., quadraginta, forty.) 
In allusion to the forty days during 
which a ship, suspected of harbouring 
disease, was forbidden to have inter- 
course with the shore. 

Quarrel over a bishop^s cope. To: to 
quarrel over a matter that is of no 
consequence. 

Quart d’heure. Tin mauvais [Fr,, a bad 
quarter of an hour) : a brief period of 
trouble or annoyance. 

Quartier Latm, Le [Fr., The Latin 
Quarter) : the university quarter of 
Panis. 

Quashee, A: a negro. From Quassi, 
the name of one. 

Quatorzienne, A [Fr., Fourteener) : a 
member of polite society who is 
willing at a moment's notice to accept 
an invitation to dinner so that the 
company shall not number thirteen. 

Quat^ceutist, A : a writer or painter 
of the Quattrocento [q.v^. 

Quattrocento, The : the 15th cent., as a 
period of art and literature. Ital., 
Four hundred, in allusion to the cent, 
commencing 1400 A.D. 

Qne faites vous dans cette galbre? : 
properly, * Que diable allait-il faire 



Qaeen] [Qaeea 


dans cette galore ? ' (Ff., What the 
devil is he doing in that galley) ? What 
are you doing in such company? 
The phrase appears in Molifere, Les 
Fourberies de Scapin, II, vii {1671), 
but was borrowed by him, together 
with the whole of the scene from 
Cyrano de Bergerac, Pidant JouS, 
II, iv (1654). 

Queen of the Adriatic, The : the City of 
Venice. 

Queen Anne is dead : the news is very 
stale. Possibly in allusion to the 
excitement and great interest with 
which the news of the death of Queen 
Anne was awaited in view of the doubt 
regarding the succession. The con- 
stant repetition of the news of the death 
made it ultimately very stale. 

Queen Anne’s Bounty : a fund set aside 
by Queen Anne in 1704 for supple- 
menting the emoluments of small 
benefices. It was derived from the 
church property which had been 
confiscate by Henry VIII. 

Queen Anne’s : an ofiensive gesture, 
made by the thumb and fingers spread 
out from the nose. 

Queen Anne’s Great Captain: John 
Churchill, Duke of Marlborough 
(c. 1650-1722). 

Queen of the Antilles, The: Cuba. 

Queen of Cities, The : (i) Rome ; (2) 
Bagdad. 

Queen City of the Lakes, The : BufiaJo. 
In allusion to its situation at the 
junction of the Brie Canal with 
Lake Erie. 

Queen City of the IGssissippi, The: 

St. Louis, 

Queen City of the Mountains, The: 

Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Queen City of the Plains, The : Regina, 
Canada. 

Queen City of the South, : Sydney, 
N.S.W. 

Queen diy (Queen) of the West, The : 

Cincinnati. 

Queen Dick : Richard Cromwell (1626- 
1712), Lord Protector of England, In 
allusion to his weak character. 

Queen Dick, That happened in the reign 
of : that never happened at all. 

Queen of the dripping-p^ A : a cook. 
[Peter Pindar, Pindariana : Tom and 
Dolly (1794)] 

Qneen of the Bast, The : (x) Antioch in 
S3rria; (2) Batavia in Java; (3) 
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra (3id 
cent.). 


Queen of the Eastern Archipelago, The : 

Java. 

Queen of Festivals, The : Easter Day. 

Queen Fortune: the personification of 
fortune. 

Queen of Hearts, The: Elizabeth of 
Bohemia (1596-1662), daughter of 
James I of England. In allusion to 
her great popularity. 

Queen of Heaven, The : (1) in Phoenicia, 
Astarte; (2) in Greece, Hera; (3) 
in Rome, Jxmo; (4) in Eg3rpt, Isis; 
(5) among Koman Catholics, the 
Virgin Mary. 

Queen of Love, The : Venus. 

Queen Mab hath been with yon : you 
have been dreaming. In allusion to 
Mab, Queen of the Fairies. [Shakes- 
peare, Romeo and Juliet , I, iv (159X-3)] 

Queen of the May, The : a village girl 
who presided over the May-day 
festivities. 

Queen of the Mississippi Valley, The: the 
City of St. Louis. 

Queen of the IHghi, The : the moon. 
[Lyndesay, Monarche (1552)] 

Queen of the North, The: Edinburgh. 

^een of the Northern Seas, The: 
Elizabeth, Queen of England, during 
whose reign the Navy prospered and 
grew. 

Queen of Farley, The: the echo. 
[Milton, Comus, 11 . 238-43 (1637)] 

Queen Pa^on, The Great : love. [Peter 
Pindar, Portfolio: Dinah (c. 1790)] 

Queen of Professions, The : divinity. 
[Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy : To 
the Reader (1627)] 

Queen of Queens, The : Cleopatra, 
Queen of Egypt. So-called by Marc 
Anthony. 

Queen Sarah : Sarah, Duchess of Marl- 
borough (1660-1744). In allusion to 
the influence she exercised over 
Queen Anne. 

Queen oftheSdenoes, The: theology. 

Queen of the Sea, The : Tyre. 

Queen of Sheba, A : an oriental queen ; 
a woman whose magnificence is 
oriental. Adfter the Queen of Sheba 
who visited Solomon. 

Queen of Shepherds, The : Que^ 
Elizabeth. So-called by Spenser in 
The Shepheayd*s Calendar : April, 
11. 33-4 (1579). 

Queen of Song, The : Angelica Catalmi 
(1782-1849), ‘ The Italian Nightin- 

gale.* 

Queen Square Hexmii, The: Jeremy 
Bentham (1748-1832), the economist. 



Queen] 287 [Quia 


who lived at No i. Queen Square, 
Bloomsbury, London. 

Queen of the suds. A: a laundress. 
[Peter Pindar, Lyric Odes to the Royal 
Academicians for 1783, Ode ii] 

Queen of Tears, The : Mary of Modena, 
wife of James II of England. 

Queen of watering-places, The: Scar- 
borough. 

Queen’s bus. The : a prison van. 

Queen’s En g lish , The : correct English. 
[Nashe, Strange Newes (i593)] 

Queen’s Evidence : see King’s Evidence. 

Queen’s heads : postage stamps, bearing 
the effigy of Queen Victoria. 

Queen’s Own, The : government 

property. 

Queen’s pipe. The : the furnace at the 
Victoria Docks, London, in which 
contraband tobacco, etc., was formerly 
destroyed. 

Queen’s shilling. The : the s hi l l i n g 
formerly accepted (in the rei^ of 
Queen Victoria) by a recruit on 
enlistment in the Army. 

Queen’s weather : splendid weather. 
In allusion to the esp. fine weather 
with which Queen Victoria’s appear- 
ances in public were generally favoured 

Queer card, A : an unconventional 
person. Card. 

Queer one’s pitch. To : to upset one's 
arrangements and cause annoyance. 
Said to be derived from the metaphor 
of street artists who have recognized 
pitches for their performances. 

Queer Street : financial difficulties. The 
term ‘ Queer Street ’ was formerly 
used to designate something wrong. 

Querelle d’AUemand, A (Er,, a German 
quarrel) : a dispute about a trifle, 

Querpo, In {Span,, cuerpo, the body): 
in shirt sleeves. 

Question, To beg the : to assume that 
which requires to be proved. 

Question, To move the previous : to t^e 
steps in parliament to avoid a decision 
on an inconvenient topic. 

Question, To put to the: to seek a 
decision in a matter. A parliamentary 
metaphor. 

Qni vive, To be on the : to be wide 
awake, on the alert. In allusion to 
the sentinel’s challenge, ' Qai vive ? ’ 
Fr., Who lives? [Coningsby, Siege 
of Rouen (1591)] 

Qui vivra verra (Ital,) : who shall live 
shall see. 

Quick, To cut to the : to keenly hurt ; a 
reference to the quick underneath the 


fingernails, which is very sensitive. 
[The Spectator, No. 16 (1711)] 

Quick as fire, As: very quickly; as 
quickly as ffire spreads. 

Quick as lightning. As : with great 
rapidity. [Shakespeare, King Richard 
II, I, iii, 79 (1593) ; Butler. Hudibras, 
II, ii, 1065 (1663)] The metaphor is 
to be found in many of the literatures 
of the world. 

Qtdck as a stag. As : in Home, fugitive 
slaves {servi) were called cervi (stags), 
partly as a pun, partly in allusion to 
the speed of the stag. [Spenser, 
Faerie Queen, II, xi, 23 (1590)] 

Quick as thought. As: immediately 
[Coventry Mysteries (15th cent.) ; 
Shakespeare, Winter*s Tale, IV, iv, 
565 (1611)] 

Qai(^ as tinder, As : in allnsion to the 
rapidity with which tinder ignites. 
[Peter Pindar, A Rowland for an 
Oliver (1790)] 

Quick work of . . To make : to settle.out 
of hand. [The London Chanticleers, 

vii (1659)] 

Quid pro quo, A {Lat,, what for what) : 
an equivalent or compensating gift or 
payment. [Calfhill, Answer to 
Martiall (1565)] 

Quidnunc, A {Lot., what now) : one 
curious regarding other people’s affairs. 
Popularized by a character in Muiphy's 
farce. The Upholsterer, or What News 
(1758), but used previously by Sir 
Richard Steele in The Toiler (1709). 

Quietists : a Fr. sect, dating from the 
end of the 17th cent., which preached 
a contemplative rather than an actively 
religious life. 

Quill-i^vers : clerks. From the time 
when quill pens were generally used. 

Quits, To cry: to agree to a mutual 
settlement. [Chapman, All Fools, II, 
i (1605)] 

Qnivei full of fbem. To have one’s : to 

have several children. In allusion to 
a quiver full of arrows. [Psalms, 
cxxvii, 5] 

Quixote, A : a person extravagantly 
romantic or chivalrous beyond limit. 
From Don Quixote, the hero of 
Cervantes’ romance bearing that 
title. 

Quixote of the UTorth, The : Charles XII 
of Sweden (1682-1718). 

Quixotic : see Quixote. 

Quiz, A : (i) one who causes amusement 
by puzzling or teasing others. The 
word is said to have arisen out of a 



Qaodlibet;] 

■wager that an invented ■word would 
be the talk of Dublin within twenty- 
four hours of its coinage. The wager 
was won by the chalking of the four 
letters (unintelligible in combination) 
Q U I Z on all the walls of the city ; 
(2) (Amer. univj the examination of 
the members of a class by means of 
verbal questioning. 

Quodlibet, A (Lat., whatever pleases 
one) : a subject for philosophical or 
theological discussion, [Sir P. Sidney, 
Defence of Poesie, Pt. II (1595)] 
Quorum, A (Lat., of whom) : the 
minimum number of persons attending 
a meeting which can constitute that 
meeting. The term was derived from 
the rule, generally adopted, which ran 
somewhat as follows : The committee 
shall consist of — members, of whom 
(quorum) — shall constitute a meeting. 
[Evelyn, Diary, II (1669)] 

Quorum pars magna fiu (Lat, of which 
I was a great part) : [Virgil, Mneid, 

II. 6] 

Quos ego, A : a threat of punishment 
for disobedience. In allusion to the 
words uttered by Neptune to the 
rebellious winds. [Virgil, ^neid^ I, 
I35j 


E months. The: September to April; 
those in whose names the letter r 
appears, during which oysters are in 
season. 

R’s, The Three : reading (w)riting, 
(a)rithmetic (reckoning). Phrase said 
to have been originated in 1795 in the 
form of a toast by Sir Wm. Curtis, 
Lord Mayor of London. 

Rabelais, English: (i) Jonathan 
S'wift (1667-1745), so-called by Vol- 
■taire ; (2) Laurence Sterne (1713-68) ; 
(3) Thomas Amory (c. 1691-1788). 
After Francois Rabelais (c. 1490- 
1553)* perhaps the greatest of French 
satirists. 

Rabelais of (rermany. The: Johann 
Mentzer Fischart (c. 1545-1614), 

Rabelais, The Modem : William Maginn 
(1794-1842). 

Rabelais’ dodge ; to get oneself arrested 
so as to avoid paying hotel and 
travelling charges. In fusion to an 
anecdote related of Rabelais. 

Rabelaisian : coarse, extravagant in 
humour and satire. After the manner 
of the Fr. humourist Francois Rabelais 
(c. 1490-1553). 


288 [Rain 

Rabshakle, A : a profligate. [II Kings, 
xviii, 17] 

Rachel, A : a quakere.ss. 

Racine of Italy, The : Pietro Antonio 
Metastasio (1698-1782). After Jean 
Racine (1639-99). the distinguished 
Fr. dramatist. 

Racine of Music, The : Antonio Gaspare 
Sacchini of Naples (1735-86). 

Rack and manger. To lie (live) at : to 
live in luxury. A metaphor derived 
from the stable. [Chapman, All 
Fools, I, i (1605)] 

Rack Rent : the ^11 rental value of a 
building, as distinguished from that 
on which rates and taxes are calculated. 
Rack and ruin : utter destitution, A 
corruption of wreck and ruin. 

Racket, To make (Mck up) a : to be very 
noisy. In allusion to the noise made 
in the game of racquets. 

Radicals : an Eng. political party, dating 
from early in the 19th cent., comprising 
the more advanced members of the 
Liberal party. The term was first 
applied in 1818 to Henry Hunt and 
others who advocated a radical reform. 
Radish, A forked ; see Forked radish. 
Rag, A : (i) a disorderly orgy of 

practical joking; (2) a term of con- 
tempt applied to a newspaper. 

Rag, Red : see Red rag. 

Rags of Antisthenes, The : the costume 
worn by Antisthenes (444-365 B.C.), 
founder of the Cynic School at 
Athens. 

Ragamuffin, A ; a ragged, unclean 
individual. Properly the name of a 
demon. 

Ragtime : music in which no sense of 
time or rhythm is kept. (Amer.). 
Also cheap, ephemeral music. From 
ragged. 

Raiffeisen bank, A : a co-operative 
agricultural bank. After the German 
originator, FriedrichWilhelm Raiffeisen 
(1818-88). 

Rail Splitter, The : Abraham Lincoln 
(1809-65), Pres, of the U.S., who for a 
time earned his li'ving by splitting rails. 
Bails, Off the : in error. A railway 
metaphor. 

Railroad City, The : IndianopoHs, situ- 
ated at an important railway junction. 
Railway King, The: George Hudson 
(1800-71), notorious railway specu- 
lator. So-called by Sydney Smith. 
Bain cats and dogs. To ; to rain very 
hea*vily. From the influence exercised 
by cats over the rain, according to 



Bainbow] 


289 




Scand. mythology, and from the dog 
aa the sign of &e ivind in the same. 
[Swift, FcliU C<mv0ysati<m, Dial. II 
(173S)] 

Babihow 6ha86» A : a useless quest. 
From the fable of the pot of gold 
buried where the rainbow touches the 
earth. 

Bainhow chaser* A : a doctrinaire 
politician. 

Rainbow ioui&es the ground* Where the : 

nowhere. 

Rainy day* A : bad times ; a period of 
ne^. Q. Jefierie, Bughears, III, ii 
(1580I] 

Raise the wind* To: to obtain funds. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Ridson d’dtre (Fr ,) : reason for existence. 

Raj* The British : the British Empire of 
India. From (Hindi) raj, rule. 

Rake* A : a contraction of rake*hell (9.V.) . 

» iar. Constant Couple, 1 , i (1^9)] 
carry heavy : to be proud and 
over^bcaring. [Terencs in English 


Rise’s pSeogress* A : a reckless course of 
proceedings. 

RiUDS-Hdl, A : a man of dissolute habits ; 
a wild disorderly person. [AlliUera’^ 
Hve Poems (1360)] 

Ballids: Fr. monarchists who rallicri 
or gave their adhesion to the Kepuhlic 
in 1890. 

Ram’s horn* A: a loud, unpolished 
speidcer. 

Raminagobzis : (x) a cat, after the 
name used hy La Fontaine in his 
Fables; (a) an incompetent poet, 
from the use of the name by Rabelais 
as a satire on Guillaume CrCtin 
(d. c. 15*3)- 

itam*, A : aa ill'mannerly womaa oc 
girL From to ramp, to rage. [Halle, 
Httuy VI ( 1548 )] 

HatmahiwMa ISmi^re, The : Auat^ 
Hungary. So described by Mr. 
Wnston Churchill after the outbreak 
of the European War of 1914-18. 

Rank fsshion : the upper class of 
society. 

Rank and file* The : the common p^le ; 
the undistinguished mass. A military 
metaphor. 

Ranks* To rise from fhe : to rise in social 
status from a low d^pree. A military 
metaphor. 

Rap* Bot worth a : a rap was an z8th 
cent. Irish coin of very little value._ 
of Cats* The : Gottfried Mind 
(j 768-1 814). Swiss painter. After j 


Raphael Sanzio, the great ItaL painter 
(1483-1520). 

Raphael* The Flemish: Frans Floris 
French : see French 

Raphael. 

Baphad of Eollaaid* The : Martin van 
Hemskerck (1498-1574). 

Rapier and Rosette Tories: the followers 
of Lord Randolph Churchill in the 
Parliament of 1880-5. So-called by 
Sir Herbert Maxwell in Sixty Years a 
Q'teen, ch. xvi (1897). 

Bapparee* A: one of a band of Irish 
robbers who molested the I^rotestants 
early in the i8th cent. From an 
Erse word for a disorderly person. 

Bara avis* A {Lat^, a rare bind) : some- 
thing or somelx^y exceptional. [G. 
WilMns, Miseries of Enforced Marriage, 

I, 11. 159-61 (1607) ; Horace, Satires, 

II , ii, z 6 ; Juvenal, Satires, VI, 

Bare'^Bea : Ben Jonson (1574-1637), the 
dramatist. So-called by Shakespeare, 

Bare as a white crow* As : see White 
crow. 

Baree riiow* A : an exhibition ; esp. a 
small object or collection of objects of 
interest carried about in a box. 
From ‘ rare.' 

Bat* To : to desert a party which is 
getting into trouble. In allusion to 
the belief that rats desert unseaworthy 
vessels. 

Rat in one’s garret* To have a : to be 
out of one's mind ; to sufier from 
deHzium. tremens. From the Fr, 
phrase, ' avoir des rats dans la tete.' 

Rat* To smtfl a : to have strong 
suspicions of something being wrong. 
In allusion to a cat smdling the 
proximity of a rat. [Image of Ipocrycy 

(1529)] , , _ 

B at iop al dress * a female costume, 
approximating to tiiat of men, adopted 
by women cydists about the end of 
the 19th cent. ; Bloomers (y.v.). 

Ratten* To : to molest a frilow workman 
or employer by removing his tools or 
injuring his machinery. 

Raven* To have the forWight of a : in 
allusion to the former briief that 
ravens had the power of forecasting 
death. 

Bawliobster, A : a policeman. Lobsters 
before they arc boiled are dark blue 
(the colour of the police uniform] in 
colour. The term was first applied by 
the Weekly Bespatoh in derision. 


V 



ftaw] ^ 


Baw« To ioiudi one on {he i to revive an 
unpleasant or unhappy memory ; from 
the care of an ostler to avoid a sore 
place on a horse's back. 

Bazort To cat blocks with a : to use an 
excellent tool for an inferior pur- 
pose. [Oliver Goldsmith, Retaliation 

(1774)] 

Basssiai A {Arab., Ghaxiah, a battle, war 
or hostile attack on inhdels] : a raid ; 
a hostile incursion. 

On the : in a state of 
excitement, noise and bustle. 

Be GaJantaonLO (Hal., King Honestman) : 
the title given to Victor Emanuel II 
(1820-78), by the people of Italy. 

Beach-me-downs : (i) ready-made 

clothing; (2) anything not specially 
prepar^ for the occasion. 

Beacdi the end of one’s tether. To : see 
Tether. 

Bead between the lines. To : to discern 
a hidden meaning. 

Bead while one nms. To : to understand 
■without difficulty. [Habakkuk, ii, 2] 

Beap as one SOWS, To : to suffer or ^joy 
the consequences of one's actions. 
[Galatians, -vi, 7 ; Ingeland, Dis- 
obedient Child, 1 . 760 (1560)] 

Bebec face, A : a very ugly face. like 
those cut in a rebec or three-stringed 
fiddle. 

Bebeocaites : rioters in South W^es in 
1843 who demanded the aboli'tion of 
toll gates. They were led by a man 
dressed in woman's clothes and derived 
their name from Genesis, xxiv, 60 : 
' And they blessed Rebek^, and said 
unto her ... let 'thy seed possess the 
gate of those which hate &em.' 

Bedhabite, A : a member of a total 
abstinence society. After the Recha- 
bites who in Jeremiah, xxxv, refused 
to drink wine. 

Beoipiocity : an agreement between two 
states for mutual tariff concessions. 

Be(^ one’s own rede. To ; to trust to 
one's own opinion. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, I, iii, U. 47-51 (1602)] 

Beckon without one’s hosti To : to arrive 
at a conclusion without taking into 
account some important factor. 
[Rabelais, Gargantua ; Caxton, 
Blanchardyn, lii, 202 (1489)] 

Bedkoning, The of; the time of 
settlement. In r^erence to the sense 
of the time of divine judgment. 

Reckoning, A Dutch : '^Wherein if you 
dispute the unreasonableness and 
exorbitance of the bill, the landlord 


shall bring it up every time with new 
additions.' 

Becnlcr pour mieuz sauter (Fr .) : to 
withdraw in order to jump forward 
the better. 

Beoumbentibus, To give a person a : to 
give a knock-down blow. From 
recumbent, lying down. [Laud Troy 
Book. 7400 (1400)] 

Bed Book, A : a peerage or court guide. 

Bed Button, A : a Chinese mandarin of 
the first class. After his badge of 
office. 

Bed Goats, The: British soldiers. In 
allusion to the scarlet uniforms they 
formerly wore. [1485] 

Bed oodk will crow in his house. The ; 
his house will be set on fire. [Scott. 
Guy Mannering, ch. iii (1815)] 

Bed Crescent, The : the Turkish equiva- 
lent of the Red Cross (q.v.), the emblem 
of which is a crescent instead of a cross. 

Bed Gross, The : the badge of those who 
work under the Geneva Convention 
(q.v .) : the hospital, ambulance, etc., 
service of an army Orig. the badge of 

the Crusaders. 

Bed Cross Knights : the Knights 
Templars who wore a red cross on 
their arm. 

Bed Gross Society, The : the international 
society (founded in 1864) for the 
succour of the wounded in war. The 
badge of the society is a red cross. 

Bed Eagle, The: a Prussian order of 
knighthood. 

Bed Enrig p , Xhe : the flag of the British 
Mercantile Marine. 

Bed Feathers, The : the 2nd Batt. Duke 
of Cornwall's Light Infantry which 
used to wear red feathers as a distin- 
guishing mark. 

Bed as fize, As : red. [Robert of 
Gloucester (1297)] 

Bed Flag, The : (i) the emblem of inter- 
national socialism ; (2) a signal used 
to indicate danger. In the Rom. 
Empire it signifled a call to arms. 

Bed Friar, A : a Knight Templar. 

Bed Gown, A : a student of St. Andrew's 
University. 

Bed Hat, A: a cardinal. [L^dton 
Dialogues of the Dead, Dial, aadi (1760)] 

Bed B!at The : the emblem of office of a 
cardinal. 

Bed herring across, To draw a : to 
distract the attention to a side-issue. 
In allusion to the practice of drawing 
a red herring across the trail in order 
to lead the hounds astray. 



Bed] 291 

Red Knights, The : the Cheshire Regt. 
which was supplied with a red costume 
in 1795 - 

Red lane, Down the : down the throat. 
[Udal, Roister Doister, I, iii (1566)] 

Red Laws, The : the civil code of ancient 
Rome which was written in red. 

Red Letter Day, A ; a joyful occasion. 
Orig. a saint’s day or other festival 
marked in the calendar in red. 

Red man, A : a red or N. Amer. -Indian. 

Red Neck, A : a term of derision or 
contempt applied to British soldiers by 
S. African Boers. Probably a reference 
to the colour of the British soldier’s 
uniform in the 7th and 8th decades of 
the 19th cent. 

Red, To paint : see Paint. 

Red Prince, The: Prince Frederick Charles 
of Prussia (1828-85), Field-Marshal. 

Red rag, A : anything that causes 
passion or angry excitement, as does a 
red rag on the part of a bull. 

Red Republicans : extreme Republicans. 
Red being used in the sense of fierce 
or violent. 

Red Ribbon, The : the ribbon of the 
Order of the Bath or of the Legion of 
Honour, 

Red right hand of Jove, The : lightning. 
[Horace, Odes, I, ii, 2-4 ; Milton, 
Paradise Lost, II, 172-4 (1667)] 

Red as Rotherham College, As : see 
Rotherham. 

Red Shanks : Scottish highlanders. In 
allusion to the ruddy complexion of 
their bare legs. Properly, one who has 
red legs. 

Red Shi^ A : a revolutionist. After 
the colour of the shirts worn by 
Garibaldi’s Ital. revolutionists. 

Red Shirts, The : the followers of 
Giuseppe Garibaldi in the wars of 
Italian unity (1859-67). 

Red Stiuadron, The : one of the three 
squadrons into which the British Navy 
was formerly divided. 

Red Sultan, The : Abdul Hamid II 
(1842-1918), Sultan of Turkey. 

Red Tape : official, bureaucratic 
formality. After the colour of the 
tape with which official documents are 
ti^. The phrase was introduced by 
Lord Lytton, in Alice (1838), but in a 
letter dated August 31, 1775, Sir 
Gilbert Elliot refers to * rules, tape and 
packthread ’ in a similar sense. 

Red Tapery ; Red Tapism : unintelligent 
adherence to rules and formalities. 

See Red Tape. 


[Regius 

Red as a turkey cock. As : [Lodge, Wit*s 
Misery (1596)] 

Red, White and Blue, The : the British 
flag. In allusion to its colours. 

Redbreast, A : see Robin Redbreasts. 

Redbreasts, The ; the 5th (Royal Irish) 
Lancers. 

Red-handed, Caught : caught in the very 
act. Lit., with the hands still red 
with the blood of the victim of the 
murder. 

Red-hot : highly excited or enthusiastic. 
[Middleton, The Familie of Love, III, 
iii (1608)] 

Red-lattice phrases : publichouse lan- 
guage. In allusion to the red 
lattice windows formerly distinctive of 
an alehouse. [Shakespeare, Merry 
Wives of Windsor, II, ii (1598-9)] 

Redskins ; N. Amer.-Indians. So-called 
by the first white settlers. 

Reductio ad absurdum, A {Lat., reduction 
to the absurd) : an argument that 
leads to an absurdity. 

Reed, A broken : a support not to be 
relied upon. [Isaiah, xlii, 3 ; II Kings, 
xviii, 21] 

Reed, A bruised : an unreliable support. 
[II Kings, xviii, 21] 

Reed shaken by the wind, A : a person 
moved by every passing influence. 
[Matthew, xi, 7] 

Reef, To take in a : to reduce one’s 
expenditure. A nautical metaphor. 

Reek of Mr. Patrick Hamilton, The : see 
Hamilton. 

Reel, Right off the : completed without 
intermediate stop. In allusion to the 
unwdnding of cotton, etc., off a reel. 

Referendum, A : a provision for referring 
proposed legislation to the entire body 
of electors. 

Reformation, The : the religious move- 
ment in the i6th cent, which developed 
into the secession of Protestants from 
the Church of Rome. 

Refreshment Simday : see Mothering 
Sunday. 

Regent Diamond, The : the Pitt Diamond 
(?•»•)• 

Regicides, The : the signatories to the 
death-warrant of Charles I. 

R6gime de la Calotte : government by 
ecclesiastics. In allusion to the 
calotte or skull-cap worn by church- 
men. 

Regius Professor, A : a holder of certain 
professorships at Oxford or Cambridge 
which was orig. endowed by Henry 
VIII. 



j^egolazs] ^92 [Bhadamaattiine 


Begnlais, The : the British Army, apart 
from the Territorial Troops and the 
Volunteers. 

Behohoanis A : a clerical hat. 

Behohoam of claret (nim}» A : an eight* 
fold measure, a double Jeroboam (q.v), 
usually of champagne. 

Beign of Terror, The : the period, March, 
1793 to July, I 794 » Fr- history 
during which under the direction of 
Robespierre and the Revol. Tribunal 
there was a continuous succession of 
political executions. 

Bmns to . . To give : to let go un- 
restrained. A driving metaphor. [Rob. 
Johnson, Essay es : Of Education 

{1607)] 

of govemmeiii, The : the control 
of government. [Wm. Penn, Some 
Fruits of Solitude, Pt. I, § 364 
{1718)] 

Beins of . - To hold the : to have control 
over. [Hickscomer, 1 . 35 (1520)] 

Beins, To take the : to take command. 

A driving metaphor. 

Beine Blanche, La (Fr,, The White 
Queen) : (i) Mary, Queen of Scotland, 
on account of the white mourning she 
wore ; (2) the title given to the Queen 
of France during the first six weeks of 
her widowhood, during which she 
dressed entirely in white, 

Bdlc Sunday : the third Sunday after 
midsummer on which, in the R.C. 
Church, relics are specially venerated. 

Bembrandi^ A : an etching in the style 
of Rembrandt van Rhyn (1607-69), 
Butch painter and engraver. 

Renaissance, The : the revival of learning 
in Italy in the 15th cent. 

Benard : see Reynard. 

Rentier, A: a person who lives on 
dividends or interest derived from 
investments. Lit., one whose income 
is derived from Rentes, Fr. government 
securities. 

Bep^^ers : advocates of the repeal of the 
Union between Great Britain and 
Ireland under the leadership of Daniel 
O'Connell. 

Repeniar curls: a lady's long curls. 
Fr., repentie is a Lock or Magdalen 
Hospital. Mary Magdalen is depicted 
as having long hair. Hence the origin 
of the phrase. 

Reptile Fund, The : the indemnity 
payable to the King of Hanover by 
Prussia as compensation for the loss of 
his sovereign rights, which was confis- 
cated on the ground of his continued 


opposition to Prussia. The fund was 
devoted to the payment of press 
subsidies. 

Reptile Press, The : those German news- 
papers which received subsidies from 
the Reptile Fund (q.v.). 

Republic of Letters, The : (i) the sphere 
of literature ; (2) authors and men of 
letters as a class. The phrase was first 
used by Joseph Addison (1702), but 
see Anthony Brewer, Lingua, III, v 
(1607), for 'Commonwealth of Letters,’ 
and Gottlieb Friedrich Klopstock 
(1724-1803), Germ. poet, for 
' Gelehrten Republik * (Learned 
Republic). 

B^ublioan Party, The : one of the two 
great existing political parties in the 
U.S., that which advocated the 
abolition of slavery in the controversy 
that led to the Civil War. 

Republican Queen, The : Sophie 
Charlotte, wife of Frederick I of 
Prussia. 

Bes angusta doxni {Lot., the narrow afiairs 
of home) : domestic pover^. 
[Juvenal, 3, 164 ; Nashe, Have With 
You, III (1596)] 

Respecter of persons, Kfo : a person who 
is not to be influenced by wealth, 
social standing, honours, etc. [Acts, 
X, 34 ; Thos. Lodge, Rosalind (1590)] 

Resurrection man, A : a bodysnatcher ; 
a grave-robber. First used in 1829 in 
reference to William Burke and 
William Hare. ‘ Resurrection women ’ 
was, however, used by Sir Walter Scott 
in Guy Mannering (1815). 

Besuiie^on pie : a dish made of 
remnants of cooked meat. 

Bevels, IHaster of the: the official 
appointed to direct the revels at 
court or in the Inns of Court. 

Bevenons h nos montons {Fr„ let us 
return to our sheep) : let us return 
to the matter under discussion. From 
Blanchet's comedy, VAvocat PeUelin, 

Bex, To play (Lat. rex, a king): to 
handle roughly. [Warner, Albion, I, 
Vi (1586)] 

Beyn^ : a fox. After the name given 
to that animal in Teutonic fables, 
poems, etc. 

Beynard^s ring. To have possession of : 
to bear a charmed life. In allusion 
to the imaginary magic ring mentioned 
in Alkmar's Reynard the Fox (1498). 

Bhadamanthine ; Bhadamanthean : 
severe in the extreme. See Rhada- 
manthus. 



BliadazaaxLthus] 293 

Rhadamantlius, A : an extremely strict 
or severe master or judge. After one 
of the judges of the Lower World in 
Grk. mythology. 

Rhetorical question, A : one which 
requires no answer. 

Rhine, The Irish : the River Black- 
water. On account of its magnificent 
scenery. 

Rhodian Master, The : Quintus Ennius 
(239-169 B.C.), Rom. epic poet who 
was bom at Rudise. 

Rhodomontade : see Rodomontade. 

Rhone of Christian Eloquence, The : 

St. Hilary (300-68). In allusion to 
the vehemence of his eloquence, in 
that resembling the River Rhone. 

Rhone of Latin Eloquence, The : St. 
Hilary (300-68). So-caUed by St. 
Jerome. 

Bihbon dodge, The: persecution by 
means of secret threatening letters as 
practised by the Catholic Association 
or Ribbonmen of Ireland. 

Ribbon Society, The : a secret association 
formed in Ireland about 1808 in 
opposition to the Orange Association. 

It soon became an agrarian movement 
directed against the landlord class. 

The name was derived from a green 
ribbon worn by the members. 

Ribbons, To take the : to drive horses. 

Ribbonism : an agrarian movement in 
the south and west of Ireland during 
the greater part of the 19th cent. The 
members of the secret society were 
known as ribbonmen and did not 
hesitate to have recourse to outrage to 
further their ends. 

Ribbonmen : members of the Ribbon 
Society (q,v,). 

Rice Christians : people whose religion 
is a source of profit. In allusion to 
the natives in the East who profess 
Christianity in return for food, etc,, 
(rice). 

Rich as a Griffin, As : see Gri&n. 

Rich as a Jew, As : very wealthy. In 
allusion to the proverbial wealth 
of the Jews of England in the 12th 
cent. 

Rich as a new-shorn sheep, As : penniless, 
\Cock Lor el* s Bote (1510)] 

Rich as Plutus, As : very wealthy. After 
Plutus, in Grk. mythology, the personi- 
fication of wealth. 

Richard is himself again : a phrase 
interpolated in Shakespeare, Richard 
lilt by John Kemble, who derived it 
from Colley Cibber. 


[Right 

Richmonds in the field : rivals in active 
work. [Shakespeare, Richard HI, 
V, iv (1594)] 

Ride abroad with St. George, but at home 
with St. Michael, To : to be braggart 
abroad but a coward at home. St. 
George is depicted riding a war horse ; 
St. Michael is accompanied by a 
dragon, far more dif&cult to manage. 

Ride for a fall, To : to set out with the 
intention of failing, esp. of a govern- 
ment which desires a parliamentary 
defeat. A racing metaphor. 

Ridicule, The Father of : Fran9ois 
Rabelais (i495~i553), Fr. satirist. 
So-called hy Sir William Temple. 

Rift within the lute, A : a small defect 
which spoils the general effect. 

Rig out, To : to clothe ; to fit out. A 
nautical metaphor. [Ben Jonson, 
Staple of News, II, i (1625)] 

Right, The : in politics, the conservative 
party or parties in a legislature. In 
allusion to the part of the chamber 
which it is accustomed to occupy. 

Right Boys : an agrarian revolutionary 
society in South West Ireland (1785-6) . 
After Captain * Right,* its leader. 

Eight, Divine : see Divine. 

Eight foot foremost : (i) energetically ; 
(2) auspiciously. The second is the 
earlier sense. 

Eight as a glove: absolutely trust- 
worthy. According to Sir Walter 
Scott {The Antiquary) the phrase is 
derived from the custom of pledging 
a glove as a token of irrefragable faith. 
It may, however, also be derived from 
the phrase, * to fit like a glove.' 

Eight hand. To be a person’s : to be an 
invaluable assistant to a person. In 
allusion to the usefulness of one's 
right hand. [Thos. Nash, Summer*s 
Last Will and Testament, 11. 804-5 
(1600)] 

Eight hand know what the left hand 
doeth. Not to let the : to act secretly, 
esp. in matters of charity. 

Right as a line* As : straightforward, in 
a direct course. [Heywood, Proverhes 
(1546)] 

Right man in the right place. The: a 
person fitted for his employment. The 
phrase is said to have been coined by 
Talleyrand (1754-1838), the Fr. states- 
man, but was first used in England by 
Sir Austen Henry Layard in the House 
of Commons, Jan. 15, 1855. 

Right of search : the right claimed by a 
belligerent to search neutral vessels for 



Bight] 

enemy's property. Declared illegal 
by the Treaty of Paris, 1856. 

^ght side of a man. To get the : to 
secure the favour and good opinion 
of a man. 

mght as a trivet As : see Trivet. 

Bights of Man, Dedaration of the : the 
principles adopted by the Fr. National 
Assembly of 1789. 

^ght-abont, To send to the : to dismiss ; 
to put to flight, A military metaphor. 

Eight-hand man, A : a valuable assis- 
tant. See Right hand. To be a 
person's. 

Rigmarole, A : a long incoherent state- 
ment. Corruption of Ragman's RoU, 
a list or catalogue. From Ragman, 
the name by which the statute, 4, 
Edward I, was known. 

Big Veda, The : the oldest of the four 
portions of the Veda or ancient sacred 
literature of the Hindoos. 

Bimmon, The House of : see House. 

Bing, The : the circle formed by the 
spectators at a prize fight. 

Bing one^s own To : to announce 
one's own successes. 

Bing the changes. To : a method of 
swindling by obtaining change for the 
same coin twice. [Butler, Hudibras, 
HI. iii (1663-78)] 

Bing hollow, To : to sound insincere. 
In allusion to the sound of a false coin. 

Bing, To make a : to combine with other 
dealers so as to keep up or raise the 
price of a commodity. 

Bing, The Prize : see Ring, The. 

Ring true, To : to sound genuine. In 
allusion to the ringing of coins. 

Bing, To have the true : to be genuine ; 
to possess unquestionable merit. In 
allusion to the ' ring ' of coins. 

Binging Island, The: (i) the Rom. 
Catholic Church, which is isolated from 
the world and is almost always within 
sound of church bells ; (2) a foreign 
name for England ‘ as having greater, 
more, and more tuneable bells than 
any one country in Christendom.* 
[Fuller, Worthies'] 

Ring-leader, A : a leader in a game or in 
mischief. Orig, the one who led a 
dance which opened with a ring. 

Riot, To run : to act in a disorderly 
manner. [Chapman, All Fools, I, i 
(1605)] 

Bipaille, To live at : to idle away one's 
time. After the retreat of Amadeus 
VIII of Savoy at Ripaille, where he 
lived a life of carelessness and pleasure. 


294 [Bo&st 

Rip van Winkle, A : a person who re- 
appears on the scene after a long period 
of retirement and finds ever^hing 
changed. From the legend of Rip van 
Winkle who slept for twenty years, told 
by Washington Irving in his Sketch 
Book (1819-20). 

Biphsean Bocks : a cold, mountainous 
country. After the fabulous Riphaean 
Mountains of Scythia. 

Bipon Bowels, As true steel as : abso- 
lutely steadfast. Ripon spurs were 
proverbial as early as the 17th cent. 
[Drayton, Polyolbion, II (1612-22)] 
Rise to the occasion, To : to show one- 
self worthy of the opportunity. 

Rise out of • . To take a : to obtain an 
advantage over . - A fly-fishing 
metaphor. [Kemp, "Dance to Norwich 
{1600)] 

Eisorgimento, The {Ital„ Re-birth) : the 
19th cent, political movement for the 
union of Italy. 

Ritsonism : severe and unjust criticism. 
After Joseph Ritson (1752-1803), 
Eng. antiquary. 

River of Paradise, The : St. Bernard of 
Clairvaux (1090-1 153), one of the most 
illustrious of preachers and monks. 
River of Swans, The : the Potomac, 
U.S.A, 

River, To dig the well at the : see Dig. 
Rivers, The King of the : the Tagus. 
Roar, To set in a : to cause to laugh 
immoderately. [Poston Letters, No. 
422 (1461)] 

Boar, To teach a bull to : see Teach. 
Roaring Boys ; Roarers : street rufiSans 
in the i6th and 17th cents. 

Roaring Forties, The : the stormy part 
of the Atlantic Ocean between 39 and 
50 degrees north and south latitudes. 
Roaring game. The : the game of curling. 

So-called by the Scotch. 

Roaring Meg : anything loud, efficient 
or extraordinary. After a very 
famous piece of ordnance of the i6th 
cent. 

Roaring trade. To drive (do) a : to do a 
brisk retail business. 

Roast a person, To : see Roasting, 
Roast, To rule the : to take the lead ; 
to domineer. * Roast ' is probably a 
corruption of * roost,* and in that case 
the phrase is a poultiy-yard metaphor. 
[14th cent. ; Carpenter* s Tools (15th 
cent.) ; Skelton, Colyn Cloute (1518)] 
Boast snow in a furnace. To : to act 
foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 



Roasting] 295 

Roasting, To give a : to treat severely, 
generally verbally. [Earl of Ailesbury 
Memories (1728)] 

Rob Peter to pay Paul, To : to benefit one 
at the expense of another. In 1550 
the Abbey Church of St. Peter, West- 
minster, was reduced from the status 
of a cathedral and its revenues appro- 
priated for the repair of the Cathedral 
of St. Paul's. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546) ; Rabelais, Works, Bk. I, ch. 
xi] 

Rob Roy, A : a kind of canoe. After 
the nom de plume of John MacGregor 
(1825-92), author of Rob Roy on the 
Baltic, and other canoeing books. 

Robert Macaire, A : a highwayman. 
After the hero of a comedy so entitled 
by Fr^eric Lemattre and Benjamin 
Antier. 

Robert’s men : bandits. After Robin 
Hood. 

Robespierre’s weavers : the women who 
joined the Parisian Guard in 1793. 

Robin Goodfellow : Puck, a mischievous 
fairy. 

Robin Hood, A tale of : an improbable 
story. After the legends that centre 
around Robin Hood. 

Robin Hood wind, A ; a cold thaw wind. 

In allusion to the objection which 
Robin Hood is said to have had to it. 

Robin Hood’s pennyworth. To sell : to 
sell goods below their value, as was the 
practice of Robin Hood. 

Robin Mutton, A : a simpleton. 

Robin Redbreasts : Bow Street runners, 
{q.v.). In allusion to the colour of 
their uniform waistcoats. 

Robin Ruddock : see Ruddock. 

Robinson Crusoe, A : a person ship- 
wrecked or marooned on a desert 
island. After the title character of 
Daniel Defoe's story (1719)* 

Roc’s egg, A ; something unattainable. 
From Roc, a gigantic fabulous bird 
that appears in the story of Sindbad 
in the Arabian Nights and elsewhere. 

Roche, Men of La VieiUe : men of old- 
fashioned ideas. A geological meta- 
phor. 

Roche’s bird, Like Sir Boyle : See Sir 
Boyle. 

Roch Day : the day after Twelfth Day, 
when women resumed their work. 
Germ., roche, a distaff. 

Rock, To plough a : see Plough. 

Rocket and come down like a stick. To go 
up like a : to start a career with extra- 
ordinary success and to end it in 


[Roi 

failure. The phrase is attributed to 
J. W. Croker (1780—1857), who is said 
to have used it in allusion to Dickens. 

Rococo jewellery : over decorated, florid, 
garish jewellery. From the rococo 
style of architecture and furniture. 

Rod for one’s own back. To make a : to 
provide trouble for oneself. [Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Rod of iron, To rule with a : to govern 
very strictly. \Psalm, ii, 9 ; Revela-- 
tions, ii, 27] 

Rod, To kiss the : to be submissive to 
ill fortune or punishment. 

Rod in pickle. To keep a : to have a 
scolding in reserve. In allusion to the 
fomer practice of soaking birches in 
brine so as to keep them supple. 
[Chapman, Monsieur d* Olive, I, i 
(1606)] 

Rod and spoil the child, To spare the : 
to refrain from corporal punishment 
and thereby allow the child to grow up 
spoilt and unruly. Proverbs, xiii, 24 : 
* He that spareth his rod hateth his son.* 

Rodomontade : empty and loud boasting. 
After Rodomonte, a character in 
Ariosto, Orlando Furioso. [Sir Thos. 
Browne, Religio Medici, Pt. I (1643)] 

Roe and John Doe, Richard : two 
fictitious names formerly employed in 
legal documents. The term dates 
back to the reign of Edward III- 

Rogation Days ; the Monday, Tuesday 
and Wednesday of Supplication before 
Ascension Day. Lat., rogatio, suppli- 
cation. 

Rogation Week : see Rogation Days. 

Roger Bontemps : see Bontemps. 

Boger, The Jolly : the emblem of pirates. 

Roi des Barricades, Le (Fr., the king of 
the barricades) : Louis Philippe, King 
of the French, immediately before 
whose accession to the throne barri- 
cades were erected in the streets of 
Paris. 

Roi Bourgeois, Le (Fr., the Citizen King): 
Louis Philippe of France. 

Roi Citoyen, Le (Fr., the Citizen King) ; 
Louis Philippe of France. 

Roi Faineant, A : a king or other person 
who either through incapacity or lack 
of interest, neglects his duties. The 
Rois Faineants (sluggard kings) of 
history were the last of the Merovin- 
gian line in France (7th and 8th 
cents.), who devolved all their power 
and responsibilities on the Mayors of 
the Palace, who ultimately supplanted 
them. 



Boi] 


^$6 


[Boorbadc 


Boi est mort I Vive le Boi I Le (Py- The 
King is dead I Long live the King t) : 
an exclamation intended to convey 
that although individual kings die, the 
institution of monarchy is perpetual. 

Boi Paiade» Le (Fr., the strutting king) : 
Louis XVIII of France. 

Boi de Frusse, To work for the : to 
perform a hard* unprofitable or little 
profitable work. In allusion ^ to 
Frederick William I (1688-1740), King 
of Prussia, proverbial for his hamh- 
ness, meanness and rigid discipline. 
Fr., the King of Prussia. 

Boi dn Boi, Le (Fr., King of the King) : 
Card. Richelieu (1585-1642), who was 
the practical ruler of France in the 
reign of Louis XIII. 

Boi Soleil, Le (Fr., the Sun King) : 
Louis XTV of France. 

B<n d’Vvetot, Le : saa King of Yvetot. 

Boland, To die like : Roland, a paladin of 
Charlemagne, who died in circum- 
stances of great bravery at the Battle 
of Roncesvalles in 778. 

Boland, Faire le (Fr., to play the Roland): 
to swagger, to imitate Roland, 
the Paladin. 

Eoland for an Oliver, To give a : (i) in 

a dispute or contest to return as much 
as one receives, after the contest* of 
Roland and Oliver, both paladins of 
Charlemagne, as narrated in medieval 
romance ; (2) to cap one lie with 
another, from the incredible stories 
told of the valour of the paladins, 
Roland and Oliver. 

Bolaoid’s hom. Like the blast of: the 
horn of Roland, one of the paladins of 
Charlemagne, which he won from the 
giant Jutmundus, could be heard at a 
distance of twenty miles. 

Bolling mountains : waves. 

Bolling stone^ A : a wanderer ; one who 
frequently changes his occupation. 
From the Grk. proverb, ‘ A rolling 
stone gathers no moss.' [Vision of 
Piers Plowman (1326)] 

Boman birds : eagles, which were the 
ensign of the Rom. L^ons. 

Romans, The Last of the : see Last. 

Romance, A r a novel or work of fiction. 
The first romances were written in the 
Romance, or mixed Latin, dialects. 

Romance languages. The : the languages 
derived from Latin, viz., French, 
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and 
Roumanian. 

Boman-JDutch Law : Roman Law as 
based on the Institutes of Justinian 


and modified in Holland. In force in 
S. Africa. 

Bomantio School, The : a circle of young 
poets and prose writers in Crermany 
early in the 19th cent, who wished to 
devote their talents to portraying 
romance. A quarter of a century later 
the school was introduced into France 
by Victor Hugo, Lamartine and Dumas. 

Borne, AH roads lead to : there are many 
ways of accomplishing an end. 

Borne was not built in a day : patience 
is necessary. [Queen Ehzabeth, 
Speech Before University of Cambridge, 
Aug. 9, 1564] 

Borne does, When at Borne do as : follow 
the local conventions. The phrase is 
supposed to be based on the reply of 
St. Ambrose (340-97) to St. Augustine 
who enquired his practice in fasting 
when at Rome : * When I am here 1 
do not fast on Saturday ; when I am 
at Rome I fast on Saturday.' (St. 
Augustine, Epistle, XXXVI). [Hy. 
Porter, Two Angry Women of Abingion, 
U. 1 104-7 (I5Q9)] 

Borne of the North, The : Cologne. 

Borne of the West, The : Aix la Chapdle, 
the favourite capital of Charlemagne. 

Borneo, A : a devoted lover. From the 
hero of Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet 

(1591-3)* 

Romulus to account for Borne, To need 
no : to need no hypothetic^ history 
to account for a pl^ fact. 

Booden Lane, All on one side like : the 
village of Rooden, in Herefordshire, 
lies ^ on one side ot the road. 

Boof of the world. The : the Pamirs, a 
pleateau north of India. 

Boc^A; Book, To: a cheat: to cheat. 
[Nottingham Records (1577)] 

Bookie, A : a raw recruit. After the 
rookery or the quarters in barracks 
occupied by subalterns. A military 
term. 

Boom to bis company. To prefer a 
personas : to desire to be rid of a 
person. [Munday and Chettle, 
Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington, 
II, ii (r6oi)] 

Boom to swing a cat. Not enough : very 
restricted accommodation. In al- 
lusion to the former sport of swinging 
a cat to the branch of a tree as a 
target. [Smollett, Letter to Dr. 
Lewis] 

Boorbaw, A : a political forgery. After 
the title of an alleged book. The 
Travels of Baron Roorback, from which 



297 


Boost] 

extracts were published for political 
purposes in 1344. An American i s m , 

Boost* To coma home to : of an under- 
taking* when the time for fulfknent 
arrives. From the proverb, ‘Curses 
are like young chickens : they always 
come home to roost.* 

Boot ofan evil, The: (i) money; [Ovid, 
Metamorphoses, I, 140 ; Spenser, The 
Faerie Queen, II, vii, 12 {1595)] (2) 

drunkenness. [James I, A Counter^ 
hlaste to Tobacco (1604)] 

Boot and branoih man, A : a radical in 
politics, one who advocates thorough 
reforms. 

Boot, To take: to stay in a place a long 
time. 

Bope enough. To give a person : to give 
a person sufficient latitude so that he 
may commit himself. [Bp. Browning, 
Sermons, I, iii, 42 (1659)] Eight years 
earlier Abel Redivivns used * ch a i n * 
in the same sense. 

Rose to the eye of a needle. To put a : 
see Put. 

Bope in the house of one who has been 
himged, To talk of a : to ren^d a 
person, intentionally or otherwise, of 
an unpleasant incident in his career. 
[Cervantes, Don Quixote, I, 25] 

B(ve of Oenus : see Oenus. 

Bope in one’s pocket, To oazry a : to be 
lucky at cards. From the Fr. super- 
stition that a piece of the rope by 
which a man has been hanged brings 
good luck to card-players. 

Bope round one’s nedc, To ^t with a : 
to fight with, the knowledge that 
defeat involves death or ruthless 
pumshment. 

Bope to .. Toihxowa : to give assistance 
to .. A nautical metaphor. 

Bope’s end. To give a person the : to 
fiog a person. A nautical metaphor. 

Bopes, To i^ht back to the : to fight to 
the bitter end. A pugilistic metaphor. 

Bopes, To be on one’s high: to be 
haughty in temper. In allusion to a 
tight-rope walker who looks down on 
the company. 

Bopes, To know the : to be acquainted 
with the technicalities of . • Nautical 
metaphor. 

Bopes of sand. To nmke ; see Make. 

BU)iiuelaiire, A : a cloak which buttons 
from top to bottom in front. From 
the Due de Roqudaure, by whom it 
was introduced. 

Bosa, Sub (Lot,, under the rose) : secretly. 
From w conseciated roses placm 


[Bostram 

above Rom. Catholic confessionals. 
According to legend Cupid gave 
Harpocrates a rose as a bribe not to tell 
of Ike amours of Venus. The rose 
consequently became the symbol of 
silence. was independently the 

case among the Teutons, and a sculp- 
tured rose often formed part of the 
decoration in dining-rooms as a hint 
' to the guests not to repeat the con- 
versation that passed at table. 

Boscian, A ; Bomus, A : an actor. After 
Quintiis Roscius (d. c. 62 B.C.), the 
greatest of Rom. comic actors. 

Bc^us, The African: Ira Aldridge 
(d. i 367), a negro actor. 

BcxKdus Bziiaiuilfnis : Thg 
(BzitLri^ BosKdmi ; (i) Richard Tarlton 
(d. 1588} ; (2} Thomas Betterton 

(1835-1710) ; (3) David Garrick 

(1717-79). 

B<mu8 of France, The : Michel Boyron 
{1653-1729). 

E(mn8, The Irish: Spranger Barry 
(1719-77). 

Bosoius, The Young: William Henry 
West Betty (1790-1874), a boy actor. 

Bose, Under the : see Rosa, Sub. 
[D^ocke, Letter to Vaughan (1546)] 

Bose, The Golden : a golden ornament, 
blessed by the Pope on the fourth 
Sunday in Lent; and sent by him as a 
reward and mark of distinction to some 
prince, diurch, or other individual or 
Institution. 

Bose, The Little Black : Ireland. 

Bose, To mount the : to blu^. 

Bose Sunday: the fourth Sunday in 
Lent, when the Pope blesses the 
Golden Rose (^.v.). 

Boses, A bed Of : sssBed. 

Boses, The Wars of the : the £ng. Civil 
Wars of 1455-85 in which the 
Lancastrians fought under the emblem 
of a red rose and the Yorkists under 
that of a white one. 

Bose-oolouzed spectacles : favourably 
disposed or optiznistically inclined 
eyes. 

Bosioraolan, A : a member of a secret 
and mystical society, said to have been 
instituted by Christian RosenkrfcujE 
in 1484. 

Bosinant^ A : a broken-down, wom-out 
horse. After the name of the steed 
in Don Quixote, 

Bostnuu (Lea, a beak) : a pulpit or 
platform. From the name of the 
platform for public speakers whi<di 
was erected on the Forum of Rome 



Boiberhain] 

and was adorned with the prows or 
beaks of ships. 

Rotherham College, As red as : in allusion 
to Rotherham College in Yorkshire, 
one of the j&rst brick buildings to be 
erected in England since the Roman 
period, 

Rothschild, A : a very wealthy man. 
From the proverbial wealth of the 
Rothschild family. 

Rotten in the state of Denmark, Some- 
thing : something is amiss. [Shakes- 
peare, Hamlet, I, iv (1602-3)] 

Rond, A (Fy., roui, broken on &e 
wheel) : a licentious peoson. First 
applied to the associates of the Duke 
of Orleans (c. 1720), whose behaviour 
seemed to justify such a punishment. 

Rough diamond, A : see Diamond. 

Rough and Ready, Old : Zachary Taylor 
(1784-1850), Pres, of the U.S. 

Rough and tamhle : disorderly. Boxing 
term. 

Rough-rider, A : a member of the first 
U.S. Volunteer Cavalry organized by 
Theodore Roosevelt and General 
Leonard Wood for service in the Span.- 
American War. The term was, how- 
ever, at least a century old at the time. 
[Peter Hndar, The Rights of Kings, 
Ode 5 (1791)] 

Rongh^od over . . To ride ; to proceed, 
heedless of another’s feelings. 

Ronndval : large ; powerful. After 
Roncesvalles, where gigantic bones, 
alleged to be those of the companions 
of Roland, used to be exhibit^. 

Round on a person. To: to betray a 
person. 

Round numbers, In : a complete sum 
without fractions, e.g., in pounds, 
ignoring the odd shillings, etc. ; or 
ten or a multiple thereof, ignoring all 
smaller numbers. 

Round peg In a square hole, A : a person 
entrusted with an office or a task for 
which he is unsuited. Term invented 
by Sir Austen Henry Layard in an 
address to the Administrative Reform 
Association in 1855. The phrase ' a 
square person has squeez^ himself 
into a roimd hole* weis coined by 
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) in a lecture 
delivered before the Royatl Institution 
about the year 1824. 

Round Robin, A (Fn, rond rteban, 
round ribbon) : a petition so arranged 
that no signature heads the list. The 
first one, prepared by sailors, appeared 
in 162^, 


398 [Royal 

Round Table (Conference), To hold a : 
to hold a conference between political 
opponents on equal terms where 
neither side has the advantage of 
the other. The table being round, no 
one can claim preference in seating. 
The historic Round Table Conference 
was that of 1887 in which leaders of 
the two divisions of the Liberal Party 
which had split on the subject of 
Home Rule for Ireland, met but failed 
to come to an agreement. 

Rounder than Giotto’s 0 : of impossible 
perfection. In allusion to the circle 
drawn with a pencil by Giotto (c. 1267- 
1337) 3S a specimen of his work to be 
placed before the Pope. 

Roundheads : the Puritan party in the 
time of the Eng. Civil War. So 
designated on account of their closely 
cropped hair, as compared with the 
flowing locks of their opponents, the 
Cavaliers. 

Roving commission, A : an indefinite 
mission, allowing the bearer a wide 
course. 

Row beyond one’s reach. To ; to attempt 
beyond one’s power. [They of the 
Meane Estate Are Happiest, 1 . 24 

Row^to hoe. To have a hard flong) : to 
have a difficult (long) task to perform. 
Row, To hoe one’s own : to do one’s own 
work. Agricultural metaphor. 
Rowlmid for an Oliver, A : see Roland. 
Rowley, Old: see Old Rowley. 

Rowton House, A : a cheap hotel, in- 
tended for members of the working 
classes. From Montagu Corry, Lord 
Rowton (1838-1903), by whom these 
lodging-houses were introduced. 
Roxburgh : a form of binding books. 
After the 3rd Duke of Roxburgh 
(1740-1804), a book collector. 

Royal Goats, The: the Royal Welsh 
Fusiliers. In allusion to their regi- 
mental pet, a goat. 

Royal lHarbr, The : Charles I of England. 
Royal Oak, The : the oak tree at Boscobel 
in the foliage of which Charles II hid 
after his defeat at Worcester in 165X. 
Roy^ road to learning. The : a supposed 
easier method of obtaining learning 
available to the influential or powerful. 
From the reply of Euclid, the Grk. 
geometer of Alexandria (fi. 300 B.C.), 
‘ There is no royal road to geometry,' 
when asked by Ptolemy whether there 
was no easier method of acc^uiring tk^ 
science. 



Royalist] 299 FRushes 


Royalist than the king, More : more 
devoted to a man's interests than he 
is himself. 

Rub, There’s the : there’s the difficulty 
or hindrance. [Shakespeare, Hamlet 
III, i, 65 (1602-3)] 

Rub up the wrong way, To : to cause 
annoyance to . . Metaphor derived 
from rubbing the fur of a cat or other 
animal the wrong way. 

Rubber, To win the : to succeed in two 
efforts out of three. Cardplaying 
metaphor. 

Rubicon, Napoleon’s : Moscow. 

Rubicon, To pass (cross) the : to take 
decisive action committing oneself to 
a definite policy. The Rubicon is a 
small Ital. river which formed the 
boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and 
the remainder of Italy. In 49 B.C. 
Julius Caesar, after halting on its bank, 
decided to cross it and thereby 
rendered a civil war inevitable. 

Rubric, A : an ecclesiastical ordinance ; 
formerly a Roman law. (Lat., mbrica^ 
vermilion), from the colour in which 
the Rom. ordinances were written. 

Ruddock, Robin (Red) : (i) Robin Red- 
breast ; (2) money ; from the long- 
standing idea that gold is red. 

Rudolphine Tables, The : tables of 
astronomical calculations, named after 
the Emperor Rudolph II, under whose 
patronage they were prepared by 
Kepler in 1627. 

Ruff, The Wooden: the pillory. The 
ruff was a stiff frill or ruffle worn 
around the neck. 

Ruffle a person’s feathers, To : to anger 
or discompose. Metaphor derived 
from the bird world. 

Rugby : a form of football, orig. played 
at Rugby School. 

Rule of the road. The : the regulation or 
custom which governs the order of 
traffic in the public streets. 

Rule the roost (roast). To : to be in 
control. From the cock which 
decides -which hen is to roost near 
him. 

Rule of thumb : measurement by guess 
work or instinct. [Goldsmith, She 
Stoops to Conquer, III, i (1773)] 

Rump, A : the last surviving members of 
a party or other body, after it has lost 
its most prominent members. See 
Rump Parliament. 

Rump and a dozen, A ; a rump of beef 
and a dozen of claret or oysters. A 
common wager early in the 19th cent. 


Rump Parliament, The : ^ee Parliament. 

Run amuck. To : see Amok. 

Run against the point of a spear. To : to 
act to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Run away from one’s own guns. To : to 
abandon one's principles. 

Run before one can walk, To try to : to 
attempt a task before one is fitted for 
it. [Jno. Heywood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Run down a person. To : to depreciate, 
abuse a person. 

Run a foil, To : to puzzle, to lead astray. 
A hunting metaphor, derived from the 
quany which returns on its foil or 
trail in order to mislead its pursuers. 

Run of the house. The : free access to 
the house and its hospitality. 

Run on wheels. To ; to proceed easily 
and quickly. [Jno. Heywood, Proverhes 
(1546)] 

Run one’s ship on the sands. To: see 
Ship. 

Run upon the rocks, To : to encounter 
disaster. [Lyttelton, Dialogues of the 
Dead, Dial, i (1760)] 

Runs may read, So that he who : easily 
understood. [Habakkuk, ii, 2] 

Running fire, A : a rapid and lengthy 
series of questions, interruptions, 
etc. 

Running, Out of the : with no chance of 
success. A horse-racing metaphor. 

Running Parliament, The: see Parlia- 
ment. 

Running Thursday : Thursday, Dec. 13, 
1688, on which day a terrible panic, 
in the course of which many of the 
inhabitants of London ran into the 
country, arose on the rumour of an 
invasion by French and Irish. 

Rupert of Debate, The : Edward, 14th 
Earl of Derby (1799-1869), Eng. states- 
man. Name given to hhn by Edward, 
Lord Lytton, in The New Timon, and 
previously by B. Disraeli in the House 
of Commons (April, 1844). In allusion 
to Prince Rupert, the impetuous 
Royalist Cavalry leader in the Eng. 
Civil War. 

Rupert’s balls : Prince Rupert's drops 
{?•»•)• 

Rus in urbe {Lai., country in the town). 

Rush, Not worth a : in allusion to the 
former practice, before carpets were in 
general use, of strewing the floor with 
rushes. [Langland, Piers Plowman, 
2421 (1362) ; Googe, Heresbach's 

Husbandrie, I (1577)] 

Rushes for . . To skew green : see Green. 



Bussel] 300 

Bnssel, Dan (Old Ff., reussel, red- 
haired) : a fox. In allusion to fox 
in Chaucer, N<ntnes Preestes Tale (14th 
cent.). 

Eossel’s wagon. As big as: Russel's 
wagon, which plied bet\^'een Cornwall 
and I^ndon, was so big as to be 
drawn by hrom six to ten horses. 

BnssiaB Byron, The: Alexander S. 
Puschkin (1799-1837). Lord Byron, 
Eng. poet, lived from 1788 to 1824. 

Bussian Murat, The : Michael Milorado- 
vitch {1770-1820). Joachim Murat, 
who was Ihe son of an innkeeper, and 
as one of Napoleon's marshals became 
King of Naples, lived from 1767 to 
1815. 

Ensticated, To be : to be temporarily 
expelled from a university as a punish- 
ment. Lit., to be sent into the 
country. 


S, To cross one^B : to cheat. In Old 
French the long ' s ' stood for sous and 
the * f * for francs. A franc equalled 
twenty sous. 

S.O.S. : * Save our souls,' the message 
sent out by wireless telegraphy from 
a vessel in distress. 

S«P.Q.E. (Lat,, Senatiis PopuJusque 
Romanus, the Roman Senate and 
People) : the inscription on the Roman 
standards. 

SS, Collar of the : see Collar. 

SS which all trae lovers possess. The 
four : sapience, solitude, solicitude 
and secrecy, according to Cervantes, 
Doii Quixote, I, 34. (Sabio, solo, 
solicito, secrete.) 

Sabbath, Not to be bom on a : to be 
wide awake, not to be stupid. 

Sabbath day’s jonmey, A : a distance of 
about a mile ; that from the Ark in 
the wilderness to the extreme limit 
of the encampment. [£xodus, xvi, 29] 

Sabbatical year, A : every seventh year, 
when, according to the Mosaic code, 
the land should lie fallow. 

SabeEan Song : incantation. From the 
magic arts and incantations for which 
the Sabelli were famous. 

Sables, A suit of : an expensive attire 
which, according to legislation adopted 
in the reign of Henry VIII, no one 
below the rank of earl was permitted 
to wear. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, 
ii (1602-3)] 

Sabotage (Fr,, sabot, a workingman’s 
wooden shoe), deliberate hampering 


[Saddnoee 

by workmen of the production of 
work. 

Sabreur, Le Bean (Fr., the handsome 
swordsman) : Joachim Murat (1767- 
1815), one of Napoleon's marshals. 

Saccharine piindple in things. The : the 
adaptation of living beings to their 
environment, the acquisition of callous- 
ness to one's own sufierin^, concili- 
ation with one's unattractive duties, 
according to R. W. Emerson. 

Saocharissa turns to Joan : after once 
the novelty of the object has passed 
away one's opinion of its value 
deteriorates. Saccharissa is the type 
of faultless woman, Joan that of the 
ordinary average one. [Fenton, The 
Plaionic SpelT\ 

Sack, To give the : to dismiss. Said to 
be derived from the sack in which a 
workman kept his tools. On engage- 
ment the sack was placed in the care 
of the employer who returned it on 
the termination of the empl05rment. 

Saf&doth and a^es, In : in mourning. 
[Esther, iv, i, etc.] 

Sacred Isle, The : (1) Ireland, on account 
of its numerous saints ; (2) Mount 
Athos, on account of its monasteries ; 
(3) Guernsey, on account of its monks. 

Sacred Nine, The : the Muses. 

Sacr^Kce to the Graces, To: to make 
oneself pleasing to others, esp. by 
means of courtesy, suavity of meinners 
and care in one’s attire. The allusion 
is to the three Graces of mythology. 
The original use of the phrase is 
attribute to the philosopher, Plato 
(427-347 B.C.) when addressing his 
fellow-philosopher Xenocrates ( 39 <^ 
314), who was noted for his uncouth- 
ness. 

Sacripant, A : a bully and boaster. After 
a character in Alexander Passoni, 
The Rape of the Bucket. 

Saddle, To be in the : to be in charge, in 
control. A riding metaphor. 

Saddle on the right horse. To pnt the : 
to put the blame or praise where it is 
deserved. [Dekker and Webster, 
Westward Ho, V, ii (1607)] 

Saddle, To sed: the skirts of one’s : to 
depart, withdraw. [Poston Letters, 
No. 146 (1451)] 

Saddled with . - To be : to be burdened 
with .. [The Spectator, No. 551 
(1712)] 

Saddncee, A : a materialist. After the 
name of a Jewish sect active at the 
time of Christ, 



B&Msm] 301 

Sadism : pleasure in inflicting pain on 
others. After Donatien, Marquis de 
Sade {1740-1814), Fr. novelist and 
dramatist, whose novels exploit 
cruelty of man to woman. 

Saffron, To sleep on a bed of : to be 
light-hearted. From the exhilarating 
effect of saffron. 

Sage of Auburn, The : Wm. Hy. Seward 
(1801-72), Amer. statesman. 

Sage of Chappaqua, The : Horace Greeley 
(1811-72), Amer. statesman and man 
of letters. 

Sage of Chelsea, The : Thomas Carlyle 
(i795--iSSi), Scottish man of letters 
and philosopher, who lived in Chelsea 
from 1834 until his death. 

Sage of Concord, The : Ralph Waldo 
Emerson (1803-82), who lived at 
Concord, Mass. 

Sage Hens : inhabitants of Nevada. 
From its wild fowl and sage bushes. 

Sage of Monticello, The : Thomas 
Jefferson (1743-1826), President of the 
U.S., who lived at Monticello, Virginia. 

Sage of Samos, The : Pythagoras (fl. 
540-510 B.C.), Grk. philosopher, who 
was bom at Samos. 

Sage-brush State, The : Nevada, on which 
territory the sage-brush grows in 
profusion. 

Sail than ballast, More : more show than 
substance. [Wm. Penn, Some Fruits 
of Solitv.de, Pt. I, §§ 259-60 (1693)] 

Sail close to the wind. To ; to be guilty 
of practices almost criminal. A 
nautical metaphor. 

Sail under false colours, To : to live a life 
of deceit. In allusion to pirates. 

Sail, To hoist : to depart. A nautical 
metaphor. [Shakespeare, Twelfth 
Night, I, V (1601)] 

Sail, To put on all : to make every 
possible effort. A nautical metaphor. 
[Plato, Protagoras ; Cicero, De Donio, 

X, 24] 

Sail with the wind. To : to prosper. A 
nautical metaphor. [Greene, Liberality 
and Prodigality, II, iv (1602)] 

Sails, To haul in one’s : to retire from the 
contest. [Cicero, A d A tticum, I, xvi, 2] 

Sails, To take the wind out of one’s ; to 
deprive suddenly of the basis of one’s 
argument or case. 

Sailor King, The : William IV, who, 
before his accession, was an officer in 
the Royal Navy. 

Sailor’s Friend, The: Samuel PlimsoU 
(1824-98), the author of PlimsoU’s 
Act (j.t'.j. 


[St. Giles’s 

Saint Agnes’ Eve : the night of January 
20th, when it is said that a girl, pro- 
vided that she observes certain 
ceremonies, can see her future husband 
in a vision. 

Saint Andrew, Order of: the oldest 
Russ. Order of Knighthood. 

Saint Andrew’s Cross : see Cross. 

Saint Andrew’s Day: Nov. 30th. St. 
Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. 

Saint Anthony’s Fire : erysipelas. From 
the tradition that recovery from the 
disease, when it raged as a plague in 
1089, was due to intercession to St. 
Anthony. 

St. Anthony’s pig : the smallest pig of a 
litter. St. Anthony, a swineherd, was 
the patron saint of pigs. 

Saint Augustin’s summer. A: a fine 
September. 

Saint Barnabas Day : the 21st June, the 
day which is followed by the shortest 
night. 

Saint Bartholomew : the massacre of the 
Huguenots in Paris on St. Bartholo- 
mew’s Day, 1572. 

Saint Bernard : a breed of large dogs. 
From the Abbey of St. Bernard where 
they were bred and trained to find 
travellers lost in the snow. 

Saint Catherine’s tresses. To braid : to 
live a virgin. 

Saint Crispin, A Son of : a shoemaker. 
After St. Crispin, the patron saint of 
the craft. 

Saint Crispin’s holiday : see Crispin’s. 

Saint Crispin’s lance : a shoemaker's awl. 
After St. Crispin, the patron saint of 
shoemakers. 

Saint Cuthbert’s duck : the eider duck. 

Saint Distaff’s Day : see Distaff's Day. 

Saint Domingo Fever: yellow fever. 
From St. Domingo in the West Indies. 

Saint Elmo’s Fire : see Saint Hermes’ Fire. 

St. Francis’ Distemper: impecuniosity. 
In allusion to the vow of poverty 
taken by the members of the Order of 
St. Francis. 

Saint Geoffirey’s Bay : never. There is 
no saint of that name in the calendar. 

Saint George’s Cross: the flag of the 
British Navy. 

Saint George’s Day : April 23rd. 

St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, As lame as : St. 
Giles was the patron saint of cripples 
to whom a church near Cripplegate, 
London, was dedicated. Cripplegate 
derived its name from the number of 
cripples who used to congregate in its 
vicinity. 



St. Giles] 

St. Giles and Earl of Murray, To dine : 
with : see Dine. 

Saint Grouse’s Day : the 12th of August, 
on which grouse shooting legally 
commences. 

Saint Helenas Tire : St. Hermes’ Fire 

Saint Hermes’ Fire : properly St. Elmo’s 
Fire ; the ball of fire that often appears 
at mastheads during a storm ; a 
will-of-the-wisp. 

Saint James’ Tide (Day) : July 25th. 
St. James is the tutelar saint of 
Spain. 

Saint John’s evil : epilepsy. 

Saint Johnstone’s tippet : the hangman’s 
rope. From Johnstone, an executioner. 

Saint Julian was he deemed : he was a 
great epicure. After St. Julian, the 
epicurean of saints. 

Saint Lawrence, The fiery tears of ; see 
Saint Lawrence’s tears. 

Saint Lawrence’s tears : shooting stars 
which are generally seen in profusion 
about St. Lawrence’s Day (Aug. lo). 
St. Lawrence was roasted to death on 
a gridiron. 

Saint Lubbock’s Day ; St. Lubbock, The 
Feast of : the first Monday in August, 
a bank holiday, instituted through the 
efiorts of Sir John Lubbock, Lord 
Avebury (1834-1913). 

Saint Luke’s bird, As light as : as heavy 
as an ox. After the ox that generally 
appears in representations of St, Luke. 

Saint Luke’s little summer : the month 
of October, in which the weather is 
frequently pleasant. St. Luke’s Day 
falls on the i8th of the month. 

Saint Marget’s ale : water. 

Saint Martin’s bird : the goose. From 
eating which bird St. Martin is said to 
have died. 

Saint Martin le Grand: the adminis- 
tration of the British Post Of6ce. 
From its headquarters built on the site 
of the ancient collegiate church of 
St. Martin le Grand. 

Saint Martin’s beads : imitation 
jewellery. From St. Martin le 
Grand where it was once made and 
sold. 

Saint Martin’s evil: drunkenness. See 
Martin drunk. 

Saint Martin’s jewellery : cheap or 
counterfeit jewellery. From that 
formerly on sale in the parish of St. 
Martin le Grand. 

Saint Martin’s lace : imitation gold lace ; 
tinsel. See St. Martin’s beads. 


302 [Sakt 

Saint Martin’s ring, A : a copper-gilt 
ring. See St. Martin’s beads. 

Saint Martin’s summer : a period of fine 
weather between October 18 (St. 
Luke’s Day) and November ii (St. 
Martin’s Day). 

Saint Mathuihi’s malady : stupidity. 
After St. Mathurin, the patron saint of 
idiots and fools. 

Saint Monday : the holiday kept by 
workingmen on Monday, to recover 
from the "week-end rest. [Ben. 
Franklin, Autobiography, III (1771)} 

Saint Nicholas’s clerks (clergymen) : 
thieves. From the story of St. 
Nicholas and the thieves. 

Saint Partridge’s Day : the ist of 
September, the day on which partridge 
shooting legally commences in England. 

Saint Patrick, Order of : an Irish order 
of knighthood, instituted in 1783. 

Saint Roche {Fr., Saint Peter) ; a play 
on Fr., Pierre, a rock, and ^so Peter, 
and Fr., roche, a rock. 

Saint Roch and his dog : two inseparable 
companions. In allusion to St. Roch 
and his dog, who are ^ways depicted 
together. 

Saint Simonian ; Saint Simonite ; Saint 
Simonist : a disciple of Saint 

Simonism {q.v.). 

Saint Simonism : a political philosophy of 
socialism instituted by the Comte 
Claude de St. Simon (1760-1825). 

Saint Stephen, The crown of : the royal 
cro\vn of Hungary. 

Saint Stephen’s: the British House of 
Commons, which formerly met in the 
Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster 
Abbey. 

Saint Stephen’s loaves (bread) : stones. 
In allusion to the stoning of St. 
Stephen. 

Saint Swithin’s Day : the 15th of July, 
the day of the attempted reinterment 
of St. Swithin within the church, 
contrary to his dying wish. The 
attempt was frustrated by rain on 
forty successive days and was then 
abandoned. Hence the popular belief 
that if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day it 
will rain also on the forty subsequent 
days. 

Saint Tammany : see Tammany. 

Saint Tib’s Eve, On : never ; the eve of 
the day of judgment. St. Tib is a 
corruption of St. Ubes, but there is 
no such saint in the calendar. 

Saint Valentine’s Day : the 14th of 
February, sacred to lovers. Bishop 



303 


Saint] 

Valentine was martyred on that day 
in the year 278, but it had already for 
long been a festival of young people 
from the belief that birds began to 
pair on that day. 

Saint Vincent’s Day : January 22nd. 
St. Vincent was the patron saint of 
drunkards, in accordance with the 
proverb : 

' If on St. Vincent’s Day the sky is 
clear. 

More wine than water will crown the 
year/ 

Saint Vitus’ Dance : a hysterical disease 
(chorea). Formerly a dancing mania 
prevalent in Germany and the Nether- 
lands. The connection with St. Vitus 
is due, either to the chapel of this 
saint at Ulm to which the religious 
enthusiasts used to jump and skip on 
Tuesday in Whit Week, or to the 
supposed power of the saint to control 
and cure nervous and hysterical 
affections. 

Sainte Ampoule, La : see Ampoule. 

Saints, The : the anti-slavery party in 
England. 

Salad days ; the period of inexperienced 
youth, when people are as green as 
salads. [Shakespeare, Anthony and 
Cleopatra, I, v (1606-7)] 

Salamander’s wool : asbestos. From the 
fable of the salamander which could 
live in fire. 

Salamis of Britain, The : the Spanish 
Armada. The Greeks gained a great 
naval victory over the Persians at 
Salamis in 480 B.C. 

Salary, A : fixed payment for services 
of a non-manual or non-mechanical 
character. Lat., sal, salt, and 
salarium, the money allowance to 
Rom. soldiers for the purchase of salt. 

Sale by the candle : see Candle. 

Salic Law, The : a law, first promulgated 
about the year 500, by which women 
were prohibited from inheriting land. 
It was afterwards extended to prevent 
a woman from inheriting a throne. 
Its prevalence in Hanover led to the 
disassociation of the British and 
Hanoverian crowns in 1837. 

Sallust of France, The : C6sar Vichard 
(1639-92), Abb6 de St. R6al. So- 
called by Voltaire. Sallust, Rom. 
historian, lived from 86 to 34 B.C. 

Sally, An Aunt ; see Aunt. 

Sally Lunn, A : a tea-cake. After the 
hawker who used to cry them in the 
streets of Bath (c. 1800). 


[Salt 

Salnmcis : effeminacy. ^ After the foun- 
tain of Salmacis in Halicarnassus 
which rendered effeminate all who 
bathed therein. 

Salmagundi ; a dish composed of chopped 
meat, fish, etc. From the name of 
a lady of the court of Marie de 
Medici. 

Salon, A (Fr,, drawing-room) : a social 
and intellectual gathering. 

Salon, The : the annual exhibition of 
contemporary art in Paris. Grig, held 
in one of the salons of the Louvre. 

Salt, A Covenant of : an absolutely 
binding a^eement. From the in- 
corruptibility of salt. [Nximhers, 
xviii, 19] 

Salt on the crown of . . To put: to 

imbue with judgment or discretion, 
[Cervantes, Don Quixote, I, 37] 

Salt of the ea^ : of supreme excellence. 
[Matthew, v, 13] 

Salt with . . To eat: to accept the 
hospitality of . . [Lyly, Euphues : 
Anatomy of Wit (1579)] 

Salt, To eat a man’s : to accept a man’s 
hospitality. From the practice among 
the Arabs of accepting salt as a bond 
of friendship. [Lyly, Euphues: 
Anatomy of Wit (1579)] 

Salt an invoice, To : to claim the 
highest obtainable price, so as to leave 
plenty of margin for a discount or 
other reduction. 

Salt, An old : an experienced seaman. 

Salt, With a pinch (grain) of : (to accept) 
with reservations. From the Lat., 
cum grano salts. 

Sait to one’s porridge, Not to earn : to 

earn practically nothing. 

Salt River, To row up : of a political 
party which has suffered defeat. 
From the name of a river in Kentucky, 
small but difficult to negotiate. In 
early colonial days Salt River was 
infested by pirates who, taking their 
plunder up the turnings and windings 
of the stream, were practically secure 
from pursuit there, A second explan- 
ation offers an allusion to the salt- 
workers on the river, a set of brawny, 
athletic men alway ready with their 
fists. Hence if it was desired to punish 
anyone all that was necessary was to 
row him up Salt River. Yet another 
explanation is derived from an incident 
in the Presidential Election of 1832. 
Henry Clay, one of the candidates, had 
an appointaent to speak at Louisville, 
but his boatman, who happened to be 



am 

a political opponent, rowed him up the 
Salt River instead of the Ohio, and 
thus caused him to lose his appoint- 
ment and the election. 

Salt To sit above the : to be entertained 
with honour. From the former 
practice of placing a large salt-cellar 
midway on a long dining-table, the 
guests and others whom it was desired 
to honour being seated above the 
salt ; menials and those whom it was 
desired to mortify below the dividing 
line. 

Salt, To sit below the : see Salt, To sit 
above the. 

Salt, To sow with : to render unfruitful. 
[The Spectator, No. 1S9 (1711)] 

Salt, Not to be made of sugar or : to be 
unaffected by wet weather. 

Salt on his tail. To put : to snare ; to 
catch. [Lyly, Euphues (1580)] 

Salt, True to his : faithful. See Salt, To 
cat a person’s. 

Salt, Not worth Ms : not worth the cost 
of keeping him alive. 

Salvation The: a militant religious 
organization founded by ' General ' 
William Booth in 1878. 

Salvator Rosa, The English: John 
Hamilton Mortimer ( 1 74 1-79) . Salva- 
tor Rosa (1615-73) was an Ital. 
painter of brigands, etc. 

A Bioky : a Liverpudlian. 

Sam, To st^d : to pay for the party. 
In allusion to Uncle Sam (the United 
States), who pays all the expenses of 
American soldiers. 

Sam, ITnide : see Unde Sam. 

Samaritan, A : a benevolent person who 
is active in charity. From the parable 
of the good Samaritan in Luke, x, 

30-37- 

Samaritan, A good : see Samaritan. 

Sambeoito, The {Span,, St. Benedict} : 
the garment worn by persoris con- 
demned by the Holy Inquisition. 

Sambo [Span., xambo, crook-legged) : 
a nickname for a negro. Properly the 
offspring of a negro and a mulatto or 
Indian. 

flflTWTftn letter. The : Y. Used in illus- 
tration by Pythagoras, the Samian 
sage, of the divergent paths of virtue 
and vice. 

Samian Poet, The : Simonides (c. 556-4^ 
B.C.), who was bom at Samos. 

Samian Sage, The : Pythagoras (fl. 540- 
510 B.C.), Grk. philosopher, who was 
bom at Samos. 

Samiel wind. The : the Simoon. 


304 [Sa&d 

Sammy, A : an Amer. private soldier. 
After Unde Sam (gjo.), the generic 
name for an American. 

Samosatian Philosopher, The : Ludan of 
Samosata (120-180), where he was 
bom. 

Sampford ghost. The : a ghost supposed 
to have haunted a house in Sampford 
Peverell early in the 19th cent. 
Sampson, A Dominie : a humble, old- 
fashioned, pedantic scholar. After a 
character in Sir Walter Scott, Guy 
Mannering (1815). 

Samson, A : a man of great strength. 
After the biblical character. [Judges, 
xiii] 

Sams(^ The British : Thomas Topham 

(1710-53)- 

Samson, The Eenttsh: Hichard Joy 
(1675-1742). . . ^ . 

Samson^s crown : a mighty achievement 
which involves the dea*^ of him who 
performs it. After Samson’s last 
great exploit. 

San Benito, The: see Sambenito. 
Sanee-BeR ; Sanctns Bell, !Qie : a bell 
mng in the church at ‘&e Sanctns at 
Mass ; in Reformed churches, rung as 
the i^t summons to the congregants 
to come to church. 

Sanoho Panza, A : a magistrate. From 
the behaviour of Sancho Panza in 
Don Quixote as judge in the Island of 
Baratria. 

Sanctnary : the right claimed by the 
church to afford protection to refugees 
from justice. Abolished in Engird 
in 1697. 

Sanctuary men : men who have taken 
refuge from the law or from an enemy, 
in a sanctuary. 

Sanctuary, To take : to take refuge. 

Properly in a sanctuary. 

Sanotus Sanctorum [Lat,, Holy of holies): 
a private room of an individual. In 
allusion to the chamber in the Temple 
at Jerusalem into which the High 
Priest alone was permitted to enter. 
[Scott, Old Mortality, ch. 40 (1816)] 
Sand, To build on &e : to build on 
insecure foundations. [Rob. Daven- 
port, The City Night-^ap, III (i66i)'l 
San^ To plough &e : see Plough the 
sand. 

Sand, To make ropes of : see Make. 

Sand, To sow on the : see Sow. 

Sand, To weave a rope of : to undertake 
a useless task. [Columella, 10 Praef. 4] 
Sand, To write in the : to engage in a 
labour that will soon be undone. 



Sands] 305 [Sardome 


Sands, To count the : to undertaJce an 
endless task. [Calpumius, Eclogues, 
II ; Shakespeare, Richard II, II, ii 
(1593)] 

Sands of life (time), The : in allusion to 
the sands of the hour-glass. 

Sands are run out, One’s : the end of 
one's life is at hand. In allusion to 
the sand in the hour-glass. 

Sandals, A man without : a prodigal. 
From the practice among the ancient 
Hebrews for the vendor to give his 
sandals to confirm the transaction. 

Sandwich, A : a slight repast consisting 
of meat, etc., between two slices of 
bread which can be eaten without 
necessitating cessation of one's im- 
mediate emplo3nnent. After John 
Montagu, Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), 
who invented them so that he might 
continue his gaming without interrup- 
tion. 

Sandwich, To : to insert between two 
other objects or ideas, as in a sand- 
wich. 

Sandwichman, A : a man who parades 
the streets, bearing advertisement 
boards back and front. See Sandwich. 

Sandy, A : a Scotsman. Contraction for 
Alexander, a common Scot. name. 
See Sawney. 

Sang froid {Fr., cold blood) : coolness 
of temperament ; indifference. 
[Arbufimot, History of John Bull, ch. 

19 (1713^] 

Sangrad: see Grail, Holy. 

Sanguinary James, A • a sheep's head 
not singed. After James I of England 
who introduced the dish from Scodand. 

Sa^ediim ; Saishediin, The : the 
ecclesiastical council of the Jews in 
Jerusalem. 

Sanitas sanitatum, omnia sanitas (Lot,, 
health of healths, all is health) ; a 
play on the biblical phrase, Vanitas 
vanitaium, omnia vamtas, Vanity of 
vanities, dl is vanity. The phrase is 
attributed to Gilles Menage (1613-92). 
the Fr. savant, but was used by his 
fellow countryman, Jean Louis de 
Balzac (1594-1654). It was popular- 
ized by Lord Beaconsfield. 

San? Culottes, The {Fr., without 
breeches) : the revolutionary rabble of 
Paris. So-called by the Royalists, 
because they wore trousers instead of 

Im AO aq 

Ran? Culottides, The : the five surplus 
days in the Fr. Revol. calendar, 
devoted to Genius, Labour, Actions, 


Rewards and Opinion respectively. 
See Sans Culottes. 

Sansculottism, Literary : literature of a 
second-class character. See Sans 
Culottes. 

Sans Gdne, Madame : the Duchess of 
Dantzig, wife of one of Napoleon's 
marsh^, formerly a laundress. The 
name (Fr., Madame Careless or Un- 
restrained) was given to her on account 
of her unconventional manners at 
court. 

Sans penr et sans reprodhe : see Bayard, 
A. 

Sans Soud {Fr., without care) : a palace 
of retirement and rest. The name of 
a country house built by Frederick the 
Great near the Palace at Potsdam. 
The name was derived from his remark 
on looking at the royal tombs close at 
hand, ' Oui, alors je serai sans souci.' 

' Yes, then I shall be without care.' 
Sans Sond, The Philosopher of : 
Frederick the Great. So-called by 
Voltaire. 

Santa Claus {Dutch, St. Nicholas) : 
Father Christmas, the patron saint of 
all children. 

Santo Benito : see Sambenito. 

Sappho, A ; a poetess. After Sappho of 
Lesbos (fl. 611-592 B.C.), famous 
poetess. 

Sappho, The English : Mary Robinson^ 
nie Darby (1758-1800). 

Sappho, The Prendi : Magdalen de 
Scud^ri (1607-1701). 

Sappho, The Scottish: Catharine Cock- 
bum (1679-1749). 

Sappho of Toulouse, The: C16mence 
Isaure (c. 1^50-1500). 

Saracen wheai: buck wheat. Intro- 
duced into Europe by the Saracens 
or Moors. 

Sarah Gamp, A : see Sarey Gamp. 

Saratoga trunk, A : an Amer. travelling 
trunk. After Saratoga Springs, a sea- 
side resort in New York State, at 
which it was first used by visitors. 

Sardanapalus, A : a self-indulgent t3nmit. 
After Sardanapalus (d. 817 B.C.), 
King of Nineveh. 

herb. The : sardonic ; the herb 
which produces sardonic laughter. 
After Sardis in Asia Minor. 

Sardinian laugh (smile) (grin). A: an 
expression of pain instead of pleasure. 
See Sardonic. 

As Cheap as ttie : see Cheap. 

Sardonic : (of laughter) bitter and 
scornful. From the herba Sardonia or 

X 



Baiey] 


30 ® 


[ScB&d&l"bzoib 


Saidiniaa herb, which when eaten was 
supposed to cause in agony an 
appearance of laughter in the face. 

Sarey Gamp, A : a large untidy-looking 
umbrella. From a character in 
Dickens, Martin Chuxzlevoii (1843) 
who was accustomed to carry one. 

Sassenach : Gaelic corruption of Saxon. 
An Irish and Highland Scot, term for 
an Englishman. 

Calling in Bedzebnb to oast out : 
using one evil to cure another. 
{MaUhew, xii, 24 ; Luke, xi, 18] 

A limb of : see Limb of Satan. 

Satanic School The: Byron, Moore. 
Shelley, Lytton, Paul de Kock, Victor 
Hugo and oliiers. So-called by 
Southey on account of their suppo^d 
non-Christian or anti-Christian 
writings. 

Satire. The Father of; The Father of 
French ; The Father of Roman : see 
Father. 

Satnmalia : a period of licence an 
orgy. £^m the Rom. Saturnalia, a 
licentious festival in honour of Saturn. 

Saturnian days : days of dulness. After 
Saturn, the designation of lead among 
the ancients. 

Satnznine : dull and heavy ; sympto- 
matic of those bom under the planet 
Saturn, the equivalent of lead. 

Satyr. A : an ancient fabulous monster, 
half goat, half man. 

Sauce for the goose is sauoe for the 
gander : treatment suitable for one 
person is equally suitable for another. 
[Otway, Venice Preseroed (1682)] 

Sauce. To serve the same : to retaliate. 
\The Man in the Moon (1609)] 

Sauce-hoz A : a saucy or impertin^t 
person. [Wm. Haughton. English- 
men for My Money, III, ii (i597)] 

Saucer eyes : big. round, staring eyes. 
[Arbnthnot, History of John BuU, Pt. 

Saul* also among ^iLie prophejte P Is: a 
suggestion of the conversion to and 
public support of a policy by one not 
hitherto identified with it. [I Samuel, 

Saut Lairds of Dunscore : noblemen or 
gentlemen possessing little but their 
names. From the proverbial poverty 
of the Lairds of Dunscore in Scot- 
land. 

Sauve qni peui. A (Ff., Let him save 
himself who can] : a general rout after 
a battle in which everyone t h in k s first 
of his own safety. 


Save appearances. To : to keep up an 
appearance (of virtue, etc.) after the 
reality has passed away. 

Save one’s face. To : to preserve one’s 
self-respect despite disappointment or 
defeet. 

Savionr of the Nations. The : the Duke 
of Wellington. So-called after the 
Battle of Waterloo. 

Savoii fairs (Fr., to know how to do) ; 
common sense. [Sir Walter Scott. 
Guy Mannering, xxxv (1815)] 

Savoh! vivre (Fr.. to know how to live) : 
good breeding. [Sterne. Sentimental 
Journey (1768)] 

Savoy. A : a variety of cabbage. 
Properly Fr., chou de Savoie, cabbage 
of Savoy (France). 

Sawbones. A: a surgeon. [Didcens. 
IHckwick Papers, ch. 29 (1836)] 

Sawdust parlance : circus language. In 
allusion to the sawdust strewn in the 
arena of a circus. 

Sawney. A : a Scotsman ; also a foolish 
person. Vmety of Swdy (9.V.). 
^dwaids. Damon and Pithias (1567)] 

Saxon comiilexio&, A : faitrl^di^. with 

light-blue eyes. 

Scab. A : a workingman who refuses io 
join a trade union. First used in this 
sense in the U.S. in z8xx. Used as 
early as 1590 as a general term of 
reproach. 

Scala Coeli (Lot,, the ladder of heaven) : 
a means of reaching heaven or celestial 
happiness. 

Scaling water. To wadi one’s sheep 

wi& : see Wash. 

Scale, To tom the : to prove the deciding 
fa<^r on one side or the other. 

Scales to fall from one’s eyes : suddenly 
to perceive the reality after a period 
of self-deception. 

Scades even. To hold the : to be strictly 
impartial. An allusion to the scales 
of justice. 

Seales of jnstiee. To hold the : to decide 
or act with strict impartiality, 
[Minucius Felix. Octavius (X50) ; 
Chapman. All Fools, V, i (1605)] 

Soallawag, A: a disreputable person. 
Amer. slang. Oiig., ti^e nxixon. 

Scallywag, A : see Scallawag. 

Scamp, A : a good for nothing. Lit., one 
who decamps or deserts from a 
military camp. 

Soandal-lnrofh : tea. From the female 
practice of talking scandal at 
afternoon tea. [Scott. Peveril of the 
Peak (X822)] 



Scapegoat] 

Scapegoat, A : he on whom the oSences 
of others are visited. From the goat 
in ancient Jewish ritual which was 
sent into the wilderness burdened with 
the sins of the people. 

Scapegrace, A : a bad character. Lit., 
one who escapes the grace of God. 
[Holinshed, History of Scotland (1577)] 

Scarab : {Lat..y scarahaeus) : a term of 
reproach ; properly a beetle. 

Scaramouch, A : a buffoon. After 
Scarramuccia, an Ital. comedian who 
acted in London and in Paris in the 
17th cent. 

Scarborough warning, A : no warning at 
all, or qne that comes too late. From 
the sudden capture of Scarborough 
Castle by Thomas Sta-fford in 1557. 
After having taken the Castle he 
advised the townspeople to flee. 

Scarce, To make oneself : to go away in 
a hurry. [Ainsworth, Rookwood, V, 
45 (1834)] 

Scarecrow, A : that which frightens or 
is intended to frighten without doing 
physical harm. Lit., that which 
scares away crows. [Nobody or Some- 
body, 1. 1791 (1592)] 

Scarlet countenance. To wear (put on) a : 
to be brazen-faced, so that blushes 
pass undetected. [Look About You, 
I, xvi (1600)] 

Scarlet La^, The : the Church of Rome. 
In allusion to Revelations, xvii, 1-5. 

Scarlet Lancers, The : the i6th Lancers. 
From the colour of their uniforms. 

Scarlet Letter, The : a badge formerly 
borne in the Puritan states by un- 
married mothers. * Scarlet * has been 
from early times an equivalent of 
heinous in allusion to offences. 
[Isaiah, i, 18] 

Scarlet Runners : Bow street runners. 
From the colour of their waistcoats. 

Scarlet Whore, The : according to 
extreme Prot. controversialists, the 
Church of Rome. [Revelations, xvii] 

Scarlet Woman ; Scarlet Woman (Lady) 
of Babylon, The : according to Prot. 
controversialists, the Church of Rome. 
[Revelations, xvii] 

Scarlet-dyed, To be : to be brazen-faced, 
so that blushes pass unheeded. [Look 
cibout You, I, XV (1600)] 

Scavenger’s Daughter, The : an instru- 
ment of torture. Properly, * Skeffing- 
ton's Daughter.* From Sir William 
Skeffington (c. 1465-1535), governor of 
the Tower of London and Lord 
Deputy of Ireland.* 


307 [Scores 

Scene, To make a : to display bad 
temper in public. 

Scenes, Behind the : in private ; not in 
the public eye. Theatrical metaphor. 
Scent, To be on the right (wrong) : to 
be following the right (wrong) course 
of deduction. Metaphor drawn from 
the kennels. 

Scepticism, The Father of Modem : see 
Father. 

Schiedam : Hollands gin. From 

Schiedam in Holland, where it is 
manufactured. 

Schism, The : the division of authority 
in the R.C. Church between two, and 
during the last six years of the period, 
three rival popes, from 1378 to 1415. 
Schism, The Great : the division of the 
Catholic Church into two branches, 
the eastern and the western, in 1054. 
Schomburgk Line, The : the boundary 
between British Guiana and V enezuela 
fixed by Sir Robert Schomburgk in 
1841-4. 

Schoolboy, Macaulay’s : the imaginary 
schoolboy who, in the course of 
Macaulay's writings, is frequently cited 
as an example of his opponent’s 
ignorance. The phrase * Every school- 
boy knows * is, however, older than 
Macaulay. [Burton, Anatomy of 
Melancholy (1621)] 

Schoolmaster is abroad. The : knowledge 
is universal. The original meaning of 
the phrase was, however, the opposite, 
viz., that the schoolmaster had packed 
up and left the country. The phrase 
was popularized by Lord Brougham 
in the House of Commons on the zgth 
January, 1828. 

Schoolmaster’s language : pedantic 
language. [Sir Thos. Overbury, 
Characters : What a Character Is 
{1616)] 

Science, The dismal : political economy. 

So-called by Thomas Carlyle. 

Science, The gay : poetry. Properly, the 
poetry of the Troubadours. 

Science, The noble : boxing. 

Scientific feontier, A : an international 
frontier based on strategic grounds. 
Sdo’s blind old bard: Homer. After 
Scio or Chios, which claims to have 
been his birthplace. 

Scissors and paste : compilation. From 
the tools needed in the compilation of 
a book. 

Scores, To wipe out oM : to take revenge 
on . . [Peter Pindar, Ode Upon Ode 

(1785)3 



Sooi] 

Soot fifoe : without payment or punish- 
ment. Lit., free of scot or tax. 

Soot and Lot; To pay : to pay both 
general and personal taxation. 

Scote Grreys, The : a regt. of Scot, dragoons 
formerly wearing grey uniforms, now 
mounted on grey horses. 

Scotch : see also Scottish. 

Sooich answer, A : see More Scotico. 

Scotch breakfast, A : a heavy breakfast. 

Scotch fiddle, The : see Fiddle. 

Scotch Hobbema, The : Peter Nasmyth 
(1787-1831). From the resemblance 
of his style to that of the Flemish 
painter, Meyndert Hobbema (c. 1638- 

1709). . . . . 

Scotch marriage, A: a mamage in 
accordance with Scots law ; aJso a 
runaway marriage. From the num- 
ber formerly effected easily in 
Scotland by refugees from across the 
Border. 

Scotch prize, A : capture made in error. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Scotlsmd, The Corse of : see Curse. 

Scotland Yard ; the headquarters of the 
London Police Force. From the 
name of the street in which its offices 
were formerly situated. Old Scotland 
Yard was the site of a palace of the 
Scot, kings. 

Scotsman’s head. To get a joke into a : 
from the proverbial impenetrability of 
the Scotch to jokes. 

Scott of Belgium, The Sir Walter: 
Hendrik Conscience (1812-83). 

Scott of Italy, The Sir Walter : Ariosto 
(1474-1533). So-called by Byron. 

Scott, The Southern; Ariosto (1474- 
1533). So-called by Lord Byron, 

Scot tish : see also Scotch. 

Scottish Anacreon, The : Alexander Scot 
(c. 1530-7O'). So-called by l^kerton. 
Anacreon, Grk. lyric poet, lived from 
c. 560-475 B.C. 

Soot^ Boanerges, The: (i) Robert 
Haldane (1764-1842) ; (2) James 

Alexander Haldane (1768-1851), The 
Apostles. James and John, were called 
Boanerges or Sons of Thxmder, by 
Jesus. 

Scottish Hogarth, The: David Allan 
(1744-96). Wm. Hogarth, English 
painter and engraver, lived from 
1697 to 1764, 

Scottish Homer, The: William Wilkie 
(1721-72;, author of The Epigoniad, 
written in heroic couplets based on 
those of the 4th Book of the Iliad. 

Scottish Hiad, The : see Iliad. 


30S [Soratbh 

Scottish mist, A : a steady soaking rain. 
Properly a thick damp mist character- 
istic of the Scottish Highlands. 
Scottish novels, The : the Waverley 
novels. 

Scottish Solomon, The: James I of 
England and VI of Scotland. 

Scottish Teniers, The : Sir David Wilkie 
(1785-1841). David Teniers, Flem. 
artist, lived from 1610-90. 

Scottii^ Theomitos, The : Allan Ramsay 
(1685-1758). Theocritos, the creator 
of pastoral poetry, lived in the 3rd 
cent. B.C. 

Scourge of God, The : (i) Attila. King 
of the Huns (d. 453), who overran the 
Rom. Empire ; (2) Genseric, King' of 
the Vandals (d. 477) ; (3) Timur 

Tamerlane, the Tartar chief. (1336- 

1405). 

Scourge of Princes, The : Pietro Aretino 
(1492-1556), Ital. satirist. 

Scourge of Scotland, The : Edward I of 
England. 

Scrap of paper, A : an international 
treaty observed so long as it suits the 
interests of either party to do so and 
then ignored. A phrase used by Herr 
von Bethman-HoUweg, Germ. Chan- 
cellor, in conversation with the Brit, 
ambassador on the 4th of August, 
1914. [The Press (Dec. 22, 1855) : 
‘ A treaty is with them but a bit of 
paper.'] 

Scrape acquaintances. To: to claim 
acquaintanceship on a slight basis. 
[Josh. Cooke, How a Man May 
Choose a Good Wife from a Bad, III, 
ii (1602)] 

Scrape, To get into a : to get into trouble 
or a difficulty. * Scrape ' is said to 
denote the path cut by deer in the 
forests when they were plentiful in 
England. 

ScratSi, A : a competitor in a race who 
is given no advantage in starting. 
See next entry. 

Scratch To come up to the : to keep an 
implied engagement ; to carry out an 
implied undertaking. The scratch 
was a line scratched on the ground 
which combatants in a prize fight or a 
race toed before the contest began. 
A sporting metaphor. 

Scratcffi crew (eleven), A : a crew of a 
boat (cricket eleven) not carefully 
selected but chosen from among those 
most readily available. 

Scratch a horse. To: to withdraw a 
home which hCtS already been 



ftjtewj 30^ [Seetet 

announced as intended to be run in a I Sea*girt Isle, The : Great Britain. In 


race. To scratch its name out of the 
list. 

Screw, A : pay. Said to have been 
derived from the practice of placing a 
man's weekly wages in a screwed-up 
piece of paper. 

Screw loose, To have a : to be mentally 
unbalanced to a slight extent. Meta- 
phor drawn from joinery. 

Screw, An old : a miser. 

Screw, To put on the : to bring 
pressure to bear, generally for pay- 
ment. 

Screwed on the right way. Head : 

possessing much shrewdness and 
commonsense. 

Scribbler, A : a minor author ; one who 
writes for low pay. 

Scrutin d’Arrondissement : a system of 
election whereby each constituency 
returns one member only. 

Scrutin de liste : a system of election 
whereby one large constituency 
returns several members. 

Sculpture, The Father of Frendi : (i) 
Jean Goujon (1510-72) ; (2) Germain 
Pilon (c. 1515-90)* 

’Scutcheon, A blot on the : see Blot. 

Scylla and Charybdis, Between : a diffi- 
cult course between two dangers. 
From the two whirlpools opposite one 
another on the coasts of Sicily and 
Italy, whose danger gave rise to the 
Lat. proverb, Incidit in Scyllam qui 
vuU vitare Charybdim, Who wishes to 
avoid Charybdis falls into Scylla. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk, I 

(1570)] 

Seme-bearers, The : the Polish peasant 
revolutionaries in 17941 ^^46 

and 1848. 

Sea, To be at : to be in a state of 
perplexity. 

Sea, To build a bridge over the: see 
Bridge. 

Sea, To se^ water in the : see Seek. 

Sea, To write on the surface of the : see 
Write. 

Seas, The Four : those which surround 
Great Britain. [1325] 

Seas, Within the Four : in Great Britain. 
See Seas, The Four. 

Sea-blue hi^ of March, The : the wheat- 
ear, 

Sea-hom City, The : Venice. 

Sea-dog, A : a seaman. Orig. an Eng. 
privateer in the early days of Elizabeth 
licensed by the Hu^enots to prey on 
Fr. commerce, 


allusion to Shakespeare, Ktng Richard, 
II, II. i (? 1593). 

Sea-green Incorruptible, The: Robes- 
pierre. So-called by Carlyle in The 
French Revolution (1837). 

Sea-legs, To get one’s : to be able to 
keep one's balance at sea in stormy 
weather. 

Sealed book, A : something extremely 
obscure or difficult to understand. 
Properly the standard copies of the 
Book of Common Prayer, annexed to 
the Act of Uniformity of 1662. 

Seamy side, The : the unpleasant side 
(of life) . Metaphor derived from 
carpets whose underside shows the 
seams. 

Season, Big gooseberry : see Big. 

Seat, To take a baek : see Back seat. 

Secession, Ordinance of : the declaration 
of South Carolina in i860 dissolving 
the union with the northern states. 

Second best, To come off : to be defeated 
in a contest. [Peter Pindar, Farewell 
Odes, Ode II (1786)] 

Second Chamber, ^e : the less important 
of the two houses of a legislature. 

Second Charlemagne : Charles V (1500- 
1558), Emp. of Germany. 

Second childhood: see Childhood, 

Second fiddle : see Fiddle. 

Second Hogarth, The: Henry William 
Bunbury (1750-1811), Eng. caricatur- 
ist. Wm. Hogarth, Eng. painter and 
engraver, lived from 1697-1764. 

Second nature : habit to which one has 
become so accustomed as to find it 
almost natural. 

Second self. One’s : one who is in perfect 
agreement with oneself. 

Second sight : the power of seeing that 
which is invisible to ordinary people. 

Second Solomon, The : see English 
Solomon. 

Second thoughts : matnrer consideration. 
[Thos. May, The Heir, II, i (1633)] 

Second Washington, The : Henry Day 
(1777-1852), Amer. statesman. After 
George Washin^on (1732-99), the 
founder of American independence. 

Secret^ Iffie Grand : the state after death. 
Phrase attributed to Rabelais. 

Secret as the night. As : [J. Cook. How 
a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a 
Bad, III, iii {1602)] 

Secret, An open : see Open. 

Secret de PoliohineUe (Fr,) ; an open 
secret; one known to most people 
interested. From Punchinello who in 



Secret] 310 [Seraphic 

Ital. comedies confides a secret to a Sell an ox to catch a hare. To : to act 
number of people each of whom is foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
surprised to learn that it is also known proverb. 

to the others. Sell the pass. To : to betray by turning 

Secret Service, The : that branch of the king’s evidence. From the Irish 

government's service the nature and tradition that soldiers sent by Crotha 
details of which are not disclosed. to hold a pass against Trathal, sold 

Secretaries of Heaven : the Apostles. themselves to the enemy. 

Secretary of Nature, The : (x) Francis Semiramis of the North, The : (1) 

Bacon, Lord Verulam (1561-1626), Margaret, Queen of Denmark, 

so-called by Isaac Walton ; (2) Plato; Sweden and Norway (1353-1412) ; 

(3) Aristotle ; {4) Socrates, so-called (2) Catharine II, Empress of Russia 

by James Howell. (1729-96), according to Voltaire. The 

Sedan, A: an overwhelming defeat. original Semiramis was a great oriental 

After the defeat of the French by the ruler among whose exploits was the 

Germans at Sedan in 1870, foundation of Babylon. 

Sedan, llie IStm of: ses Man of Sedan. Seneca, The Christina : Joseph Hall 

Sedan (-chair). A: a portable chair. (1574-1656), Bp. of Exeter and of 

From Sedan, in France, where they Norwich. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 

were first made. Rom. statesman and philosopher, lived 

See through, To : to penetrate a disguise from 3 B.C. to 65 A.D. 

or a deceit. [Love God, 95 (1400)] Senior Optime, A : (Camb. Univ.) one 

See whidi way the cat Jumps, To : see who gains a second-class in the 

Cat jumps. Honours degree in mathematics. 

Sedc Hga where only brambles grow. To : Senior Service, The : the Navy, which 

to act foolishly and to no purpose. was organized on a permanent footing 

From an ancient Grk. proverb. earlier than the army. 

Seek others and lose oneselfi To : to play Senior Wrangler, A : see Wrangler, 

the fool, [Florio, Worlds of Wordas S6nussi,The: a N. African Mohammedan 

(1598)3 fraternity of a religious-political 

Se^ water in the sea. To : to act character. Founded by Mohammed- 

foolishly. From an ancient Grk. es-Sennssi about 1830. 

proverb. Separatists : advocates of the withdrawal 

Sedc wool on an ass. To : to act foolishly or separation of Ireland from the 

and to no purpose. From an ancient United Kingdom. 

Grk. proverb. Sephardi, A : a Jew of Span, or Port. 

Seian (Sejaa) Horse, The : a possession descent or who en^loys the Span, or 

which carries misfortune with it. Sephardi ritual. From the name of 

After a very valuable horse which a country mentioned in Ohadiah, xx, 
belonged to Eneiuz Seius in the ist and identified with Spain, 
cent. B.C. and brought him and its Sepoy, A [Pars.^ sipahi, soldier) : an 
other possessors dire misfortune. Indian soldier employed in European, 

Self-denymg Ordinance, The : the reso- esp. Brit., service, 
lution of parliament of X646 which dis- September Laws, The : Fr. press laws 
qualified its members from holding adopted in September, 1835. 
commands in the Army, September massacres. The : the mas- 

Self-made man, A : a man who has sacres of about 8,000 Fr. royalist 

raised himself to afBluence by his own prisoners after pretended trial in 

exertions unaided. September, 1792. 

Sell,A : a means of deception ; a trick ; Sdptembiiseurs, : those who took 
a hoax. From to sell in the sense of part in the September ^lassacres (q.v)* 
to trick, to deceive. Soptuagint, The [Lai., septuaginta. 

Sell a persc^ To : to betray a person ; seventy) ; the Grk. translation of the 

to deceive a person. [Plautus, Bible, made in Egypt between 290 and 

Bacehides, IV, vi, 11. 16-8] 270 B.C., by seventy scholars. 

Sell one’s birthright for a mess of pottage. Hence the name. 

To : see Mess. Sepulchre, A whited (painted) : see 

Sail like hot cakes. To : to sell quickly Whitened sepulchre, 
and without efiort on the part of the Seraphic Doctor, The : St. Bonaventura 
salesman. (1221-74). 



Seraphic] 31 x 

Seraphic Saint» l!he : St. Francis of 
Assisi. 

Serhonian bog, A : an inextricable diffi- 
culty. According to the ancient 
geographers the Serhonian Bog 
was a lake l3n[ng between E^pt and 
Palestine. [Milton, Paradise Lost, 
Bk. II, 592 (1667)] 

Sere month, The : August. 

Sere (Sear) and yellow leaf. The : old 
age. [Shakespeare, Macbeth, V, iii 
(1606)] 

S6rienx, An Grand [Fr ,) : in sober 
earnest. 

Serpent in one’s bosom, To cherish a : to 
benefit one who afterwards proves 
ungrateful. The Greeks had a fable 
of a husbandman who found a serpent*s 
egg which he placed in his bosom. 
Aere it was hatched by the warmth 
and the young serpent immediately 
stung him who had brought it to life. 
[Sir Thos. Wyatt, Complaint Upon 
Loue, to Reason (1557)] 

Serpent, As subtle as a : in allusion to the 
serpent of Genesis, iii, i. 

Serpent to hiss. To teach a : see Teach. 

Serpent by the tail, To hold the : see 
Hold. 

Serpent, The trail of the : evidence of sin. 
[Thos. Moore, Paradise and the Peri 
(1817)] 

Serpent, The wisdom of the : in allusion 
to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, 
and the general belief in early times 
in the wisdom of the serpent. 
[Matthew, x, 16] 

Serpentine : tortuous or winding ; like 
a serpent in motion. 

Serpentine verses : verses whose lines 
end with the same words as those with 
which they commence. 

Serpent’s head. To love a ; to be very 
cunning and cruel. 

Serve the turn. To : to be effective for 
the immediate purpose. [Knack to 
Know a Knave, 1 . 1615 (1594)] 

Serve two masters. To : [Matthew, vi, 

24 ; Luke, xvi, 13] 

Services, The : the Army, Navy and Air 
Service. 

Servus Servorum Dei {Lot., a servant of 
the servants of the Lord) : a title of 
the Pope. 

Sesame, A ; An open sesame : a pass- 
word that gives admission which would 
otherwise be refused. From the pass- 
word in the tale of AH Bah a and the 
Forty Thieves in the Arabian Nights, 

Settle a person’s hash. To : see Hash. 


[Seven 

Set-to, A : a fight. In a prize fight the 
combatants are set by their seconds 
to the scratch. 

Seven ages of man. The : 

* At first the infant, ^ 
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. 

Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel, 
And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover. 
Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad 
Made to his mistress’ e3'ebrow. Then a soldier, 
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the paid. 
Jealous in honotur, sudden and quick in quarrel. 
Seeking the bubble reputation 
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice. 
In fair round belly with good capon lin’d. 

With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, 

Full of wise saws and modem instances ; 

And so he plan's his part. The sixth age shifts 
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon. 

With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side ; 

His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide 
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice. 
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes 
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all. 
That ends this strange eventful history. 

Is second childishness, and mere oblivion — 

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.’ 
[Shakespeare, As You Like It, II, vii 
(1600)] 

Seven Arts, The : grammar, logic, 
rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music 
and astronomy ; the principal 
branches of learning in the Middle 
Ages. 

Seven Bibles, The : the Bible of the 
Christians ; the Eddas of the Scandin- 
avians ; the Five Kings of the Chinese ; 
the Koran of the Mohammedans ; the 
Tri Pitikes of the Buddhists ; the 
Three Vedas of the Hindus ; the 
Zendavesta of the Persians. 

Seven Bishops, The : Archbishop 
Sancroft, Bishops Ken, Lake, Lloyd, 
Trelawney, Turner, and White, who 
protested in 1688 against the Declara- 
tion of Indulgence. 

Seven Bodies in Alchemy, The : the Sun 
(gold), the Moon (silver). Mars (iron). 
Mercury (quicksilver), Saturn (lead), 
Jupiter (tin), Venus (copper). 

Seven Champions of Christendom, The : 
St. Denis of France, St. Anthony of 
Italy, St. James of Spain, St. George of 
England, St. Andrew of Scotland, St. 
Patrick of Ireland and St. David of 
Wales ; according to Richard Johnson 
{1573-1659). 

Seven Churches of Asia, The : Ephesus, 
Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, 
Philadelphia, Laodicea. 

Seven Days’ Battle, The : the battle of 
James River between the Federals 
and the Confederates in the Amer. 
Civil W’ar, lasting from June 25 to 
July 1, 1862. 



Seven] 31 ^ [Shakespeare 


Seven Days’ Campaign, The : the series 
of battles in Bohemia concluding in 
the Battle of Sadowa, July 3, 1866, in 
the Austro-Prussian War. 

Sevdn deadly Sins, The : pride, idleness, 
envy, murder, covetousness, lust and 
gluttony ; according to the Rom. 
Catholic Church. 

Seven hilled City, The : Rome, built on 
the Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, 
Aventine, Coelian, Esquiline and 
Viminal hills. 

Seven Lamps of the Church, The : the 
Seven Bishops (g.v.). 

Seven Sages (Wise Men) of Greece, The : 
Anacharsis, Bias, Chilo, Cleobulus, 
Pittacus, Solon and Thales (fl. c. 600 
B.C.). 

Seven Sciences, The: the seven arts 
{?•»•). 

Seven Seas, The : the Arctic, Antarctic, 
Korth Pacific, South Pacific, North 
Atlantic, South Atlantic and Indian 
Oceans. 

Seven Senses, The : animation, feeling, 
speech, taste, sight, hearing, smell. 
According to Ecclesiasticus^ xvii, 5, 
seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, under- 
standing, speech. 

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, The : seven 
Christian youths who are supposed to 
have hidden themselves and fallen 
asleep during the persecution by 
Becius (249-251) and to have slept for 
two or three centuries. 

Seven Spirits of God, The : wisdom, 
understanding, counsel, power, know- 
ledge, righteousness, divine awfulness. 

Seven Virtues, The : faith, hope, charity, 
prudence, justice, fortitude, temper- 
ance. 

Seven Weeks’ War, The : the Austro- 
Prussian Weir of June and July, 1866. 

Seven Wise Masters, The : an old 
collection of oriental tales, called 
Sandabar*s Parables. 

Seven Wise Men of Greece, The : see 
Seven Sages, The. 

Seven Wonders of the World, The : (in 

antiquity) the Pyramid of Philetion, 
the Pharos at Alexandria, the Walls of 
Babylon, Phidias' Statue of the 
Olympian Zeus at Athens, the Temple 
of Diana at Ephesus, the Tomb of 
King Mausolus at Helicamassus and 
the Colossus at Rhodes. (In the 
Middle Ages) the Colosseum of Rome, 
the Catacombs of Alexandria, the 
Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, the ; 
Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Porcelain I 


Tower of Nankin, the Mosque of St. 
Sophia at Constantinople. 

Seven Years’ War, The : the War of 1756 
to 1763 between Prussia, under 
Frederick the Great, supported by 
England, and France, Russia, Austria, 
Sweden and Saxony. 

Seven-leagued boots, To put on : to cover 
ground very rapidly. From the boots 
of the fairy-tale which enabled the 
wearer to cover seven leagues at a step. 

Seventh Heaven, The : see Heaven. 

Severn Capon, A : see Capon. 

Seville, To learn manners in : a pun on 
' Seville ' and ‘ civil.' [Appius and 
Virginia, U. 905-6 (1563)] 

Sex, The fair : women. 

Sex, The gentle : women. [Phillip 
Stubbes, Anatomie of Abuses, VII 

(1583)] 

Sex, The Softer : women. [J. Beaumont, 
Psyche, XIV, i (1648)] 

Sex, The weaker : women. [Purchas, 
pilgrimage (1613)] » 

Shabby-genteel : shabby while obviously 
attempting to retain gentility. [Con- 
noisseur, No. 25, 146 (1754)] 

Shadow, To : to follow about like a 
shadow. 

Shadow, To be afraid of one’s own : to 
be unreasonably nervous. 

Shadow fi^re, A : a profile portrait 
filled in in black ; a silhouette. 

Shadow, To quarrel with one’s own : to 
be so irritable as to be ready to be 
offended at the merest trifle. 

Shadow for the Substance, To mistake 
the : to lose the good while vainly 
seeking the better. From the fable of 
the dog that dropped his bone into 
the river while vainly endeavouring to 
secure the enlarged reflection of it. 

Shady character, A : (Orig. XJniv. slang) 
a person justifia.bly the object of 
suspicion. 

Shady side of .. On the: older than 
(an age). 

Shaft or a bolt of it. To make either a : 

to apply it to one purpose or another. 
The bolt and the shaft were diflerent 
varieties of arrow. 

Sh^e-down, A : a bed. In allusion to 
the period in which men slept on a 
litter of straw. 

Shakes, In a couple (brace) of: very 
quickly, in as short a time as one can 
shake a dice-cup twice. 

Shakes, No great : no particular value, 

Shakespeare of Divines, The: Jeremy 
Taylor (1613-67). 



Shakespeare] 3^3 

Shakespeare of Eloquence, The : Honors 
Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de Mirabeau 
(1749-91). So-called by Antoine 
Barnave. 

Shakespeare of Germany, The : August 
Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue 
(1761-1819). 

Shakespeare of Prose Fiction, The : 
Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). So- 
called by Isaac d' Israeli. 

Shakespeare, The Spanish : Calderon 
(1600-81). 

Shallow, A Justice : a solemn, self- 
important, unintelligent country 
magistrate. After a character in 
Shakespeare, 2 King Henry IV 
(1597-8) and Merry Wives of Windsor 
(1598-9). 

Shalls, To be fed with : to be kept quiet 
by means of promises. [Churchyard, 
The Challenge (1593)] 

Shandean exactness : in allusion to 
Tristram Shandy (1759-67) by 
Laurence Sterne. Term used by Sir 
Walter Scott. 

Shandean vein, In a : in the manner of 
Tristram Shandy, the hero of a novel 
of that name by Laurence Sterne. 

Shanghai, To : (i) to drug a person and 
then to ship him as a sailor; (2) to 
hoax. From Shanghai, the Daily 
Mail correspondent in which city sent 
a spurious account of the massacre of 
the inhabitants of the European 
legations in Pekin during the Boxer 
troubles, which account was for a time 
accepted as authentic, 

Shanks’s mare (pony), To ride : to walk. 
From * shank,’ a leg. 

Shannon, Dipped in the : innocent of 
bsLshfulness. According to an Irish 
proverb. 

Shark, A : a swindler ; one who makes 
undue profit. [i6th cent.] 

Sharp practice : taking unfair advantage 
of others ; practice on the verge of 
dishonesty. 

Sharp as a razor, As : (i) clever ; (2) 
keen, [Chaucer, Legende of Good 
Women, IX, 93 (14th cent.) ; Herman, 
Vulgaria, 277 {1519)] 

Sharper, A : a swindler ; a rogue. 
[Luttrell (1681)] See Sharp practice. 

Shave an ass. To : to act foolishly. 
From an ancient Grk- proverb. 

Shave, A close : a narrow escape. 

Shears of Destiny, The : in allusion to the 
shears which Atropos, one of the three 
Parcae or Fates, used to cut the thread 
of life. 


[Shepherd 

Sheeney, A : (slang) a Jew. Apparently 
from misah meschina, a Jewish ex- 
pression which, being familiar in 
certain Eng. circles, suffered corrup- 
tion and was applied to designate 
Jews themselves. 

Sheep, A black : see Black sheep. 

Sheep from the goats, To separate the : 
to separate the good from the bad. 
[Matthew, xxv, 32] 

Sheep, A lost : a person who has got out 
of his natural environment. [Jeremiah, 
i, 6 ; Geo. Whetstone, Remembrance 
of George Gascoigne, st. 7 (1577)] 

Sheep, To return to our : to return to 
the matter in hand. From the Fr. 
phrase * Revenons k nos moutons’ [q.v .) . 

Sheep with scalding water. To wash 
one’s : see Wash. 

Sheep among wolves, A : a victim among 
rogues. [Rob. Wilson, Three Ladies 
of London, 11 , 1485-6 (1584)] 

Sheep’s eyes at . . To cast (make) : to 
ogle. Formerly, to look modestly. 
[Skelton, Workes (1500)] 

Sheepish : foolish looking, like a sheep. 

Sheer Thursday : the Thursday before 
Easter, when it was the practice to 
shear or shave the beard. 

Sheet anchor, One’s : one’s principal 
support. A nautical metaphor. 

Sheet, A clean : see Clean sheet. 

Sheet, To wear the white : to do penance ; 
to acknowledge one’s guilt. From the 
costume worn by a penitent in the' 
Rom. Catholic Church. 

Sheets in the wind. To be three : to be 
very drunk. A nautical metaphor. 

Sheffield, The Bard of: James Mont- 
gomery (1771-1854). 

Sh^els : money. The shekel was a 
weight and silver coin of the Hebrews. 

Shelf, To be laid (put) on the : to be 
retired or unemployed ; (of a spinster) 
to become an old maid. 

Shell out. To : to disburse. From the 
sense of to shell, to remove from the 
shell. [Maria Edgeworth, Moral 
Tales (1801)] 

Shell, To come out of one’s : to enter 
into the general conversation or 
activities. Metaphor derived from 
the poultry-yard. 

Shepherd of Banbury, The : John 

Claridge, who assumed the name for 
his weather-forecasting rules, published 
in 1744. 

Shepherd Kings, The : the Hyksos, or 
alien kings who ruled in Egypt from 
2100 to 1650 B.C. 



Shepherd] 314 

Shepherd of the Ocean* The : Sir Walter 
Raleigh. Najne given to him by 
Edmund Spenser. 

Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, The : a 
popular moral tale by Hannah More, 
based apparently on David Saunders. 

Sheppard, A Jade : a highwayman. 
After a notorious highwayman, b. in 
1702, hanged in 1724. 

Sheraton : an Eng. style of furniture. 
After Thomas Sheraton (c. 1751-1806), 
the designer. 

Shere Thursday : see Sheer Thursday, 

Sherlock Holmes, A ; an esp. clever 
amateur detective. After the hero in 
Conan Doyle*s A dventures of Sherlock 
Holmes (1892) and other stories. 

She-wolf of Prance, The : Isabella of 
France (1292-1358), wife of Edward II 
of England. 

Shiah : one of the two great divisions of 
Mohammedanism ; that which bases 
its teachings on the Koran without 
the aid of tradition. 

Shibboleth, A : a means of distinguishing 
one party from another. From the 
Hebrew word by the pronunciation of 
which the Ephraimites were identified. 
[Judges, xii] 

Shield, The other side of the : the other 
side of the question. From the story 
of two knights who quarrelled over 
the metal composing a shield which 
was silver within and gold without, 
each knight seeing one side only. 
[Beaumont, Moralities] 

Shiite : a member of the Shiah (q.v.) 
sect. 

Shilialah (Shillelagh), A : a cudgel, esp. 
in Ireland. After a wood in Ireland, 
famous for its oaks. 

Shillibeer, A : an omnibus. After 
George Shillibeer (1797-1866), who 
introduced that class of vehicle into 
the London streets. 

Shilling, To cut off with a : to disinherit 
and in order to show that the action 
is intentional to bequeath an insignifi- 
cant legacy to the natural heir. A 
vulgar error was long current that a 
will in which no mention of the natural 
heir is made is invalid. This was a 
fact in Rom. law. 

Shilling, The King’s (Queen’s) : the coin 
formerly handed to a recruit on 
enlisting in the British army. 

Shilling shocker, (dreadful), A : a sensa- 
tional novel of an ephemeral character, 
published at a shilling. Introduced 
into the language c. 1885. 


[Shoe 

Shilly-shally : irresolution. Corrupt 
duplication of * Shall I, shall I ? * 

Shin^, A : a noisy qnarrel. Gypsy, 
chinda. 

Shining hour. To improve the : to make 
the best use of one's time. [Isaac 
Watts, Divine and Moral Songs, XX 
(1720)] 

Shining light, A : an example of excel- 
lence. [John, V, 35] 

Ship of the desert. The : the camel. So- 
called by G. Sandys. [Paraphrase 
from Job {1610)] 

Ship comes home. When my : when I 
come into a fortune. An allusion to 
the days when argosies brought great 
wealth across the seas. 

Ship on the sands. To run one’s: to 
argue oneself into a wrong position. 

Ship for a ha’porth of tar. To spoil the : 
to practice niggardliness ; to be dis- 
incHned to complete the expenditure 
on an object. Properly, to spoil the 
sheep, etc. 

Ship of State, The: the state; the 
national fortunes . Term originated by 
Machiavelli in The Prince, 

Ships that pass in the night : people who 
pass into one’s circle of acquaintance, 
stay there a brief while and then pass 
out again. The phrase was originated 
by Longfellow in Elisabeth, but 
popularized by Miss Beatrice Harraden 
as the title of one of her novels 

(1893). 

Shipton, Mother : a half-mythical person- 
age who lived (1488-C.1559), Her 
prophecies had much vogue and are 
still quoted. 

Shirt to one’s back, Not a : penniless. 

Shirt of Nessus, The : given to Hercules 
and, when worn by him, poisoned his 
flesh so that he died in agony. 

Shirt-sleeves diplomacy : diplomacy 
which takes the press, and through it 
the public, into its confidence, as 
practiced in the U.S. where the 
President used to grant weekly inter- 
views to representatives of the press 
and give them much information on 
the course of foreign affairs. 

Shoddy : material worthless or of little 
value. Properly woollen cloth re- 
made out of woollen rags and 
refuse. 

Shoe after . . To cast (fling) an old : to 
wish good luck to . . From the practice 
of throwing an old shoe at a bridal 
couple in order to bring them luck. 
[Heywood, Proverbes {1546)] 



Shoe] 315 

Shoe the gosling. To : to engage in a 

profitless task. [Heywood, Pfoverhes 
(1546)] 

Shoe the grey goose. To : to undertake 

a difficult and thankless task. 

Shoe the horse. To : to cheat an em- 
ployer out of small amounts. 
Apparently from the practice of grooms 
of charging their masters for shoeing 
horses and pocketing the proceeds. 

Shoe the mocMsh (wild) mare, To : to 
undertake a difficult and dangerous 
task. 

Shoe pinches, To knovv where the : to 
suffer trouble not patent to the 
stranger, Lucius Aemilius Paulns 
(c. 229-160 B.C.), Rom. general, when 
asked why he had divorced his wife, 
held out his shoe and remarked, ‘ None 
of you know where it pinches but he 
that wears it.* [Chaucer, The 
Marohande's Tale (14th cent.)] 

Shoe on the right foot, To put the : to 
attribute the blame to the proper 
person. 

Shoes, To get too Mg for one’s : to become 
conceited. 

Shoes, To die in one’s : to die a violent 
death, esp. to be hanged. [Urquhart, 
Rabelais, IV, 45 (1653)] 

Shoes, Another pair of : another matter 
altogether. 

Shoes, To step into another’s : to succeed 
another person in office. 

Shoes, To wait for dead men’s : to await 
the death of a person in order to 
succeed him in office or possessions. 

Shoot one’s holt, To : see Shot one’s bolt. 

Shoot folly as it flies, To : see Folly. 

Shoot the moon, To : to evacuate one’s 
house surreptitiously without pajfing 
one’s rent. 

Shoot wide of the mark. To : to be 
altogether in error. An archery 
metaphor. 

Shop, To talk : to talk about one’s 
business in company after business 
hours. 

Shop, The wrong : the wrong person or 
destination. 

Shopkeepers, A nation of : the English. 
Remark attributed to Napoleon, but 
proper to Barfere de Vieuzac in a 
speech in the Convention on the i6th 
of June, 1794. In 1S05 the Emp. 
Francis II in conversation with Napo- 
leon called the English a nation of 
merchants. Samuel Adams is said to 
have used the same phrase in allusion 
to England in a speech alleged to have 


[Shrapnel 

been delivered by him at Philadelphia 
on the 1st of August, 1776. It was 
used in a general sense by J. Tucker, 
Dean of Gloucester, in 1766, and by 
Adam Smith [Wealth of Nations, Vol, 
II, Bk. IV, ch. 7, pt. 3 (1775)] and 
also by Louis XIV in allusion to the 
United Provinces. 

Shoplifting ; stealing from a shop under 
the guise of a customer. [William III, 
Act 11 , ch. 12 (1698)] 

Shore Thursday : see Sheer Thursday. 

Short cut, A : a quick route, out of the 
ordinary way. [Lyly, Euphues : 
Anatomy of Wit {1579)] 

Short work of . . To make : to deal with 
or complete rapidly. [Peter Pindar, 
Frogmore FHe (1795)] 

Shot, A had (good) : a bad (good) guess. 
A shooting metaphor. 

Shot one’s holt, To have 1 to have made 
one’s last effort. An archery metaphor. 

Shot, ^ Like a: promptly. 

Shot in one’s locker, Not to have a : to 
be penniless. A nautical metaphor. 

Shot, To pay the : to pay the reckoning. 
[Heywood, Froverbes (1546)] 

Shotten hening, A : a person without 
spirit, like a herring that has shot out 
its spawn. 

Shoulder, Over the : to be understood 
in the opposite sense. [Nashe, Saffron 
Walden (1596)] 

Shoulder, To shov/ the cold : to receive 
with coldness and discouragement. 

Shoulder, Straight from the : direct or 
downright. A boxing metaphor. 

Shoulder to the wheel. To set one’s : to 
set to work energetically. A metaphor 
drawn from the calling of a carter. 

Shoulders, Harrow in the : impatient of 
ridicule. 

Shoulders, An old head on young : 
abnormally wise or experienced for 
one’s age. 

Shoulders, To take upon one’s own : to 
accept responsibility for . . In allusion 
to the carrying of the key on the 
shoulder of stewards. [Isaiah, ix, 6] 

Shoulders with . . To ruh : to associate 
with . . 

Shoulder-knot, A gentleman of the : a 
footman. In allusion to the shoulder- 
knots worn by them. 

Show one’s hand, To : see Hand. 

Show, To run the : to manage the 
business. 

Shrapnel : an artillery shell which on 
bursting scatters bullets. From Henry 
Shrapnel (1761-1842), Brit, general. 



Shziflid&sl 3^^ 

fihrtftHiig Sisterhood, The : a nickname 
given to the advocates of Women's 
Rights. 

Shtif^ To give short: to allow little 
leisure or breathing time. CWg. to 
allow a criminal a short period for 
confession before e^cution. 

Shroveticle : the day before Ash Wednes- 
day, on which it was customary for 
people to conf^s their sins and be 
shriven. 

Shnnamite woman. Like the : extremely 
hospitable. From the Shnnamite 
woman mentioned in II Kings, iv. 

ESiuttldCOCk, A : a person or object 
bandied to and fro by two external 
powers over whidti he has no infinence. 
From the piece of cork used in the 
of battledore and shuttle- 
cock. 

Shy, To light : see Fight. 

Shylodc, A: a heartless usurer. After 
the principal character in Shakespeare, 
Merchant of Venice {1596)* 

Sibyl, A: a fortune-teller. From the 
Sibyllae or prophetic women who 
flourished in the ancient world. These 
were the Sibyls of Persia, of Libya, of 
Delphi, of Cumae in Italy, of Ery- 
tTiTflftfl. , of Samos, of Cumae in Aeolia, 
of Marpessa, of Ancyrae and of 
Tiburtis. 

ffibyEino Books, The price of the : the 
following is the legend of the sale of the 
Sibylline Books. The Sibyl of Cumae 
oflered nine books for sale to Tar- 
quinius Superbus. He refused to buy 
and she thereupon destroyed 
three of them and oflered him the 
remaining six at the original price. He 
again refused and she destroyed a 
second three, oflering the three 
survivors at the original price. These 
Tarquinins purchased. They were 
preserved as sacred until their acci- 
dental destruction with the Temple of 
Jupiter in 83 B.C. 

Sic {ranaii gloria mnndi (Lot., thus 
passeth away the glory of the world) : 
[Peter Pindar, Instruciicns to a 
Celebrated Laureat (1786)] 

Sic VO 8 non voids {Lat,, thus you (labour) 
but not for yourselvesL 

Sioflian : luxurious food. In 

ancient Rome the most sought-after 
cooks came from Sicily. 

Sicilian JUnsea, The : the pastoral poets, 
because Theocritus, who was Vir^'s 
model for his Eclogues, was a Sicilian 
poet. 


[SUhonetie 

Sicilian 7espers, The : a rising in Sicily 
in March, 1282, which arose from a 
French soldier, who had insulted a 
Sicilian bride on her way to Church, 
being promptly stabbed by a Sicilian, 
and which resulted in the extermina- 
tion of the Frenchmen in the island. 
The massacre commenced at Vespers 
on Easter Monday. 

Sick as a horse. As: suffering from 
nausea without being able to vomit, 
like a horse. [Burton, Anatomy of 
Melancholy, III, 336 (1621)] 
SidcManofEoiope (the East), The: the 
Turkish Empire, which for long 
apparently on the verge of collapse, yet 
managed to continue. The epithet 
was applied by the Czar Nicholas 
in 1853. A parallel is the designation 
of the same empire as ' Ce corps 
malade' by Charles Louis de Mon- 
tesquieu in his Lettres Personas 
(1721), and by Sir Thomas Roe, 
ambassador of James II to Constanti- 
nople, ' the body of a sick old man, 
who tried to appear healthy although 
his end was near.' In 1579 Don J ohn, 
the Governor-General of the Nether- 
lands, writing to Philip II, described 
the Prince of Orange as * the sick man.' 

Side : pretence ; swagger. In use as an 
adjective in 1508 in the sense of 
haughty, proud. 

Side, To put on : to swagger ; to adopt 
a boastful attitude. 

Sidetrack, To : to push aside. An Amer. 
railway metaphor. 

Sidonian iinotcuref The: purple dye. 
After Sidon in Syria, whence it was 
obtained. 

Sieve, To draw water with a : see Draw. 

A BiU: a burglar. After the 
name of a character in Dickens, 
Oliver Twist (1838). 

Silttloe gives consent : a favourite phrase 
of Pope Boniface VIII who derived it 
from the Canon Law, Decretals, Bk. V, 
xii, 43. [Plato, Craiylus'l 

Sileaoe, The Great : death, 
ffilent as a mouse. As : pryden, 
Amphiirion, VII, 49 (1690)] 

ISlent as Pythagoras, As : see Pythagoras, 

gjl gaiig, A : an old drunkard. After one 
of the subordinate deities attendant 
on Bacchus. 

Silhouette!, A : a profile portrait in black 
and cut out. After Etienne de 
Silhouette (1709-67), Fr. statesman 
and political writer, noteworthy for 
his extremely economicad methods. 



Si&] 317 

Silk Gown, A : a King's Counsel. After 
the material of his official robe. 

Silk parse out of a sow’s ear. To make a : 
to attempt the impossible. From the 
proverb, * You cannot make a silk 
purse of a sow's ear." [Peter Pindar, 
Lord B. and His Motions (c. 1800)] 

Silk Street : the ancient trade highway 
from Europe to the East. 

Silk, To take : of a barrister, to become 
a King’s Counsel. See Silk Gown. 

Silly Billy : William IV of England. 

Silly season, The : the period after 
Parliament has risen, when news being 
scarce, the newspapers used to en- 
courage correspondence on non-topical 
subjects. 

Silarist, The ; Henry Vaughan {1622- 
1695), Welsh physician and poet. On 
account of his Welsh birth, the Silures 
being the ancient name for the 
inhabitants of South Wales. 

Silver age of a literature. The : the period 
that follows the Golden Age {q^v,), from 
which it is a degeneration. 

Silver Fork School, The : a school of 
Eng. novelists — Theodore Hook, Mrs. 
Trollope, Lady Blessington and others 
— who laid much emphasis on etiquette. 

Silver Grays : Conservative Whigs, 
many of whom were old and grey- 
haired, who seceded from the New 
York Convention of 1848. 

Silver Latin : the literary period which 
followed immediately after the Golden 
or Augustan period of Lat. literature. 

Silver pheasant, A : a beautiful young 
woman of gentle birth. 

Silver spoon in one’s month. To he horn 
with a ; to be bom of wealthy parents. 

In allusion to the silver apostle spoon 
given to the children of the rich at 
baptism. 

Silver State, The : Nevada. 

Silver Streak, The : the English Channel. 

Silver, To think one’s farthing (hal^enny) 
good : to be unduly proud of one's 
property or achievements. [Heywood, 
Proverbes {1546)] 

Silver trumpet, A : an eloquent orator. 

Silver wedding. A: the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of a wedding, when in 
Germany the wife was presented with 
a silver wreath. 

Silverstick : the title of an officer of the 
Royal Household. 

Simnd Sunday : mid Lent, on which 
day, in some places, simnel cakes are 
sent as presents. See Mothering 
Sunday. 


[Single 

Simon Pure, The real : a genuine person ; 
one who is indeed the person he 
claims to be. After a character in 
Mrs. Susanna Cantlivre, A Bold Stroke 
for a Wife (1718). 

Simony : the offence of dealing in 
ecclesiastical preferment. After Simon 
Magus, who endeavoured to purchase 
the power of conferring the Holy 
Spirit. [Acts, viii] 

Simple life. The : plain, non-luxurious 
living. After the title of a book by 
Charles Wagner. 

Simple Simon, A : a simple, unaffected 
person. After the hero of a nursery 
rhyme so entitled. 

Sin cast the first stone, Let him who is 
without : who can in his heart admit 
that he's clean of all sin ? From the 
sa^ng of Jesus, recorded in John, 
viii, 7. 

Sin of the new world. The first ; drunken 
ness, the first recorded sin after the 
Flood and the landing of Noah and 
his family. 

Sins are sure to find one out. One’s : a 
sin cannot be concealed for ever. 
[Homer, Odyssey, IX, 477] 

Sins be as scarlet. Though your; in 
allusion to the scarlet fillet which was 
bound round the head of the scapegoat 
which was sent into the wilderness by 
the high priest of the Jews on the 
occasion of the High Festival. 
[Isaiah, i, 18] 

Sins, The seven deadly : see Seven. 

Sine qua non, A [Lot., sine qua non 
potest esse, without which it cannot 
be) : something indispensable. [J. 
Castle, Court and Times of James I, 
Vol. I (1615}] 

Sinecure, A [Lot., sine cur a, without 
care) : an office that carries with it 
no duties or responsibilities. 

Sinews of war. The : money. Phrase 
first used by Cicero in his fifth Philippic, 
ch. II. 

Sing another song (tune) (note). To : to 
tell a different story. [Everyman, 11. 
410-3 (1520)] 

Sing small. To : to cease from boasting. 

Single blessedness : bachelorhood. 

[Shakespeare, Midsummer A ighVs 
Bream (1595)] 

Single speech Hamilton : William 
Gerard Hamiltou, Eng. politician 
{1729-96). From the brilliant but 
solitary speech he delivered in the 
House of Commons in the debate on 
the Address in 1755. 



Slnistar] 3^^ [Skibbereen 


Sinister {Lai., sinister, left) : threatening ; 
of ill omen. By the Rom. augurs the 
left side %vas considered ill-omened. 

S fyifr OP s'wixn. : tail or succeed. In 
allusion to the ordeal undergone by 
suspected witches. [Ralph Roister 
Doister, I, iii, 1. 75 (1550)] 

Sinkhole of the East, The : Port Said. 
On account of its reputation for vice. 

Sinn Fein (Erse, ourselves alone] : the 
Irish political organization formed to 
secure the complete independence of 
Ireland. 

Sinon, A : one who deceives in order to 
betray. After the name of the Grk. 
who induced the Trojans to admit the 
wooden horse into their city. 

Sir Boyle Boche’s bird: Sir Boyle 
Roche (1743-1807), Irish member of 
parliament, famous for his bulls, on 
one occasion defended a man by 
saying, ' Did he think he could be, 
like a bird, in two places at the same 
time ? ' The same bull was perpe- 
trated at the end of the 17th cent, by 
Thos. Jevon (r 652-88) in The Devil of 
a Wife (1686). 

Sir Hnbw : see Praise from Sir Hubert. 

Sir Chnide : a dogmatic individual. 
From the dogmatism of the ancient 
orades. [Sh^espeare, The Merchant 
of Venice, I, i (1596)] 

gfr m, A : an instrument designed to 
utter warnings by means of a piercing 
sound; an enticing woman. From 
the mythical monsters, half women, 
who, inhabiting an island in the 
Mediterranean, used to lure seafarers 
to their doom by their singing. 

SBren song, A : a song that allures or 
betrays; such as that sung by the 
mythical sirens who thereby lured 
mariners to disaster. 

Sirocco io one^s flowers. To let in ihe : 
to bring misery on oneself by one’s own 
fault or carelessness. From a Rom. 
proverb. [Virgil, Eclogue, I, U, 58-9] 

Sister Ann : see Ann. 

Sisto Arts ; related arts, such as painting 
and sculpture, poetry and music. 

Sister Isle, The : Ireland, in her relation- 
ship to Great Britain. 

Sister Eongdom, The: Ireland, in her 
relationship to Great Britain. 

Sister Eingdoins, The: England and 
Scotland. 

Sisters of the Bank : see Bankside. 

Sisters Nine, The : see Nine. 

Sisters, The Three : the Fates. 

Sisters, The Weird : the Fates. 


Sisiine : of or relating to one of the 
popes named Sixtus. 

Sisyphus : a Grk. mythological personage 
who was condemned unceasingly to 
roll a large stone to the top of a hill, 
on reaching which it immediately fell 
to the bottom. 

Sisyphus’ stone : see Sisyphus. 

Sit under . . To : to receive the religious 
ministrations of . . 

Sit up, To make a person : to ^tonish ; 
to have a powerful moral efiect on a 
person. 

Sit upon. To : to suppress ; to snub. 

Sit on the rail (fence), To : to remain 
neutral; not to commit oneself to 
either party in a discussion or dis- 
pute. 

Six feet of English ground : a grave (on 
Eng. soil). [Sir T. Browne, Hydro- 
iaphia, ch. 5 (1658)] 

Six Months* War, The: the Franco- 
German war, July, 1870-3 an., 1871. 
Six of one and h^ a dozen of the other : 
nothing to choose between one and 
the other. 

Sixes and sevens, At: in a state of 
neglect. Possibly from the game of 
backgammon ; or from the Arabic 
numerals, of which one to five are 
regular, but six and seven extend 
above and below the line respectively. 
[Ihe Jowneley Mysteries, 143 (14th 
cent.) ; The Impeachment of Wolsey, 
205 (1528)] . 

Six- footer, A : a revolver with six 
chambers. 

Six-stringed whip, The : the statute of 
the six Articles (i539)* 

Sizar, A (Camb. and T.C.D.) an under- 
graduate enjoying a bursary. Formerly 
a poor scholar at a university whose 
assize of food (bread, butter and milk) 
was given to him. 

Skedaddle, To: to run away hastily. 
Orig. Amer. military slang, introduced 
at the time of the Amer. Civil War. 

Skeffiagtott’s Bai^diter : see Scavenger’s 
Daughter. 

Skeleton in the closet (cupboard), A : a 
concealed anxiety or cause of shame. 
[Italian Tales of Love, Gallantry and 
Divorce (1824)] 

Skeleton at the feast, The : a reminder of 
pain and sorrow in the midst of 
pleasure. 

Skevington’s irons : the Scavenger's 
Daughter 

Skibbereen and Connemara : tyi^s of 
poverty and distress. In allusion to 



Skibbereen] 3x9 

the proverbial poverty of these Irish 
districts. 

Skibbereen Eagle, The : The Skihhereen 
Eagle newspaper on one occasion 
informed Lord Palmerston that it 
had ‘ its eye both upon him and on the 
Emperor of Russia.' From that time 
The Skibbereen Eagle became the type 
of self-important insignificance. 

Skies, To drop &om the : to appear 
suddenl}’’ on the scene, -without warning. 

Skies, To praise to the : to praise very 
highly, as if to the skies. [Smollett, 
Peregrine Pickle, ch. 51 (1751)] 

SkiUigalee, Not worth a : of practically 
no value. A skilligalee is a coin of the 
lowest value. 

Skilly : thin gruel or porridge. Con- 
traction of skilligalee (q.v,). 

Skin, To be in another person’s : to be 
in another person's situation. 

SMn, To be in a whole : to be uninjured. 
[Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, Pt. II 
(1684)] For * skin whole ' see Shakes- 
peare, Merry Wives of Windsor, III, 
i, 11. 1 1 1-2 (1600). 

SMn before catching the bear, To sell the : 

to anticipate with undue optimism, 

SMn, To cast one’s : to change one’s 
habits of thought. 

SMn, To cultivate one’s : to be luxurious. 

SMn of . . To get into the very : of an 
actor, to play the part of . . exactly. 
Phrase used by the Fr. actor, Eugene 
Bignon (b. 1812), in allusion to his 
representation of Danton in Francois 
Ponsard, Charlotte Cor day. 

Skin, To save one’s : to avoid harm 
or loss. [Pseudo-Marlowe, Lust's 
Dominion, IV, ii (1637)] 

SMn of one’s teeth. By the: very 
narrowly (of an escape). Job, xix, 

20 : 'I am escaped with the- skin of 
my teeth.* 

Skinflint, A : a miser ; one who would 
skin a flint if he could. 

SMrts, To sit upon one’s : to medi- 
tate revenge against; to persecute. 
[Howell, Familiar Letters (1650)] 

Skull and crossbones. The : the symbol 
of piracy. 

Sky, To : to hang a picture in an 
exhibition close under the ceiling, 
where -viewing is difficult. 

Sky pilot, A : a parson. Nautical slang. 

Skylarking : rough amusement. Orig. 
nautical, when it comprised climbing 
as high as possible into the rigging. 

Skyscraper, A : a very lofty building 
that appears to reach almost to the sky. 


[Sleeping 

Slap in the face, A : a sudden, sharp 
rebuff. 

Slapdash ; hastily and without con- 
sideration. With a slap and a dash. 

Slate, To : to criticize ruthlessly. For- 
merly a school term alluding to the 
names of offenders which were entered 
on a slate. 

Slate, With a clean : -with a fresh start, 
expunging all past unfavourable 
records. 

Slate Club, A : a local thrift society 
drawing its membership from among 
the working classes. The original ones 
met in school-rooms and had their 
accounts entered on slates. 

Slate, To wipe off the : to place out of 
consideration. [Chaucer, Merciles 
Beauie, III, U. 8-9 (14th cent.)] 

Slating, A : a severe review of a book, 
etc. ; a reproof. See Slate, To. 

Slave, A : one who is entirely subjected 
to another. From the Slavs, who in 
former days supplied a large proportion 
of the slaves of Rome. 

Slave power : power based on the 
institution of slaver3^ 

Slave States, The : Virginia, the two 
Carolinas, Geor^a, Florida, Alabama 
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkan- 
sas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, 
Maryland and Delaware ; the last of 
the United States in which slavery 
was legal. 

Slaveocracy : a dominant class resting 
on a system of slavery. [New York 
Express, Sept. 4, 1848] 

Slavopl^ A : a member of a party of 
Russian intellectuals about the middle 
of the 19th cent, who led the reaction 
against occidentalization in Russia. 

Slavophobe, A : one who is possessed by 
an unreasoning hatred of Slavs or 
Russia. 

Sledge-hammer argument, A : a decisive 
and deciding argument, which settles 
a case like a sledge-hammer. 

Sleep like a top. To (Fr., taupe, a 
mole) : to sleep soundly. 

Sleep upon . . To : to consider (a pro- 
posal) at leisure, e.g., after a night's 
rest. [Arth. Murphy, Three Weeks 
after Marriage, II (1776)] 

Sleep a wink, Not to : to be sleepless. 
[Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent 

(1799)3 

Sleeping dogs lie. Let : do not arouse a 
source of possible -trouble unnecessarily. 
From an ancient Grk* proverb. [Jno. 
Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 



Sleeping] 320 [Smell 


Sleeping partner, A : a partner ^ in^ a 
business who takes no part in its 
management. 

Sleeping sickness, The : a fatal disease 
prevalent in certain parts of Africa. 

Sleeve of . . To creep up the : see Creep. 

Sleeve, To hang on a person’s : to 
surrender one’s judgment to another, 
as a child which still hangs to his 
mother's sleeve. [Sir Thos. Wyatt, 
Of the Courtier's Life (1557)] 

Sleeve, To have up one’s : to have in 
reserve. [F. de Lisle, Legendaries VII 

{1577)] 

Sleeve, To laugh m one’s : to get the 
better of a person and therefore to 
laugh at him in secret. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Sleeve, To wear one’s heart on one’s : to 
practice no concealment about one's 
own feelings. [Shakespeare, Othello^ 
I, i (1604)] 

Sleeveless errand, A : a fruitless errand. 
[Chaucer, The Testament of Love (14th 
cent.)] 

Slick : clever, quick. [Doctor Faustiis 
(1588)] 

Slick-tongned : smooth-tongued ; plaus- 
ible. [Marlowe and Chapman, Hero 
and Leander (1598)] 

Sliding scale : a system of graduated 
import duties on corn which depended 
on the price fetched by wheat grown 
in England. 

Slim (S. Afr. Dutch) : sly ; cunning. 

Slip to . . To give the : to escape from, 
nnperceived. [Wm. Haughton, 
Englishmen for My Money, IV, ii 

(1597)] 

Slip of the tongue, A : Lapsus lingua 
Iq^v.). [Benja. Franldin, Poor 
Richard's 'AlmaJiac for 1734, January] 

Slppers, To walk in golden (silver) : to 
be in the height of prosperity. 
[Bunyan, PUgrim's Progress, Pt. I 
(1678)] 

Slippery as an eel. As : quite unreliable, 
not to be trusted. [Heywood. Pro- 
verbes (1546) ; Earl of Surrey, The 
Frailiie of Beau tie, 1. 7 (1557)] 

Slipshod : careless. Properly, wearing 
loose, ill-fitting slippers or shoes. 
[Shakespeare, King Lear, I, v (1605--6)] 

Slop clothing : cheap, ready-made 
clothing. Orig. such as was supplied 
to seamen. [Lodowick Barrey, Ram- 
Alley (1611)] 

Slops : ready-made clothing. [Lodo- 
wick Barrev, Ram-Alley, IV, i, 11. 
284-5 (1611)] 


Slope, To I to decamp ; to slip away. 
From the more general sense of to 
proceed in an obhque direction. 

Slough of Despond, The : a state of 
depression. From the name of a bog 
described in Bunyan, Pilgrim's 
Progress (1678)] 

Slow coach, A : a person who dawdles 
or moves or acts slowly. 

Slug-abed, A : one who rises late in the 
morning. [Shakespeare, Romeo and 
Juliet, IV, V, 2 (159 1-3)] 

Sluice of life up, To draw the : to die. 
[Jacke Drum's Entertainment, III, 
11. 287-9 (1616)] 

Slum, A : one of the low, poverty- 
stricken, insalubrious districts of a city. 

Slumland : a poverty-stricken district of 
a town. See Slum. 

Sly-boots, A : a person who pretends to 
be stupid but is by no means really so. 

Small ale (beer) : see Beer, Small. 

Small hours (of the morning). The : those 
between midnight and an early dawn. 

Small talk : gossip ; conversation of 
little consequence. [Lord Chester- 
field, Letters (1751)] 

Small wares : textile manufactures of a 
subordinate character (tape, cottons, 
etc.) . [Bacon, Essay es : Of Cunning 
(1625)] 

Smart Set^ The : fashionable society, 
tending towards vulgarity and osten- 
tation. The original Smart Set was 
the most exclusive circle in Boston 
(U.S.A.) society. 

Smart Society : the fashionable and 
slightly fast class of society. ' Smart ' 
in this sense was in use as early as the 
beginning of the i8th cent., but it 
passed into desuetude, to be revived 
about 1885. 

Smell of the apron. To : of an action or 
remark, to show traces of the influences 
to which the actor or speaker has been 
subject. Aristodemus, supposed to be 
a cook’s son, advised Antigonus to be 
more moderate in his expenditure. 

' Thy words,’ replied Antigonus, 
'Aristodemus, smell of the apron.’ 
[Plutarch, Antigonus, I] 

Smell of the lamp. To : to show traces 
of the process of preparation. Pytheas, 
Grk. orator (fi. 325-322 B.C.), used the 
phrase of the orations of Demosthenes, 
who prepared them in an underground 
cave by artificial light. [Plutarch, 
Life of Demosthenes'] 

Smell powder. To : to have actual 
experience of battle. 



SmdH] 32 £ 

Smell a rat, To : to suspect something 
wrong. From the instinct of a dog 
or cat. [Ben Jonson, TaU of a Tub, 
IV, 3 (1633)] 

Smith of Nottingham : a conceited 
person. From the couplet : 

* The little smith of Nottingham 
Who doth the work that no man can.' 
[Ray, Collection of Proverbs (1670)] 
Smithereens : tiny fragments. 

Smithfield bargain, To make a : to trick 
' the purchaser ; to make a marriage 
in which money is the chief interest. 
From Smithfield Market, London. 
Smoke, To end in : to have no result of 
any value. From the fire that smokes 
but does not bum. [E. Grimstone, 
Siege of Ostend, 184 (1604) ; Temple 
(1683)] 

Smoke the pipe of peace. To : see Pipe 
of peace. 

Smoke, To sell : to give only words in 
return for money. [Martial, Epigrams, 
Bk. IV, V ; Sir Jno. Davies, Yet 
Other Twelve Wonders of the World, 

11. 1-2 (1611)] 

Smoker’s heart : disease of the heart due 
to excessive tobacco smoking. 

Smoky City, The ; Pittsburgh, U.S.A. 
Smollett of the stage. The : George 
Farquhar (1678-1707). After Tobias 
Smollett, Eng. novelist, who lived 
from 1721 to 1771. 

Smooth as oil. As : [Proverbs, v, 3] 
Smooth-tongued : plausible. [Marlowe, 
Edward II, IV, v (1594)] 

Snacks, To go : to share profits. [Jas. 

Puckle, 2 he Club (1711)] 

Snake in the grass, A : a secret enemy. 
[Virgil, Eclogue, III, 1 . 93 ; Bradford, 
Sermons, etc. (1555)] 

Snakes in one’s boots. To have : to suffer 
from delirium tremens, one of the 
delusions connected with which disease 
is the belief in being pursued by 
snakes. 

Sn^es in Iceland (Ireland), As rare as : 
it is said that snakes are to be found in 
neither Iceland nor Ireland. 

Snark, To hunt the : to hunt an 
imaginary animal. From The Hunting 
of the Snark by * Lewis Carroll ' (1876). 
Snatch a club from Hercules, To : see 
Hercules. 

SneerweU, A Lady: a scandalmonger. 
From a character in Sheridan, School 
for Scandal (1777). 

Sneezed at. Not to be : not valueless. 

Snip, A : a tailor. [Randolph, Muses* 
Looking-Glasse (1643)] 


[Softly 

Snob, A : one who vulgarly pretends to 
a higher social status than that which 
is proper to him ; said to have been 
derived from nob. 

Snobocracy : snobs as a class. 

Snore like a tinker, To : to snore loudly 
or sleep deeply. In allusion to the 
supposed fatigue of a travelling tinker 
at the end of his day’s journey. [Geo. 
Coleman, jun., Sylvester Daggerwood, i 

(1795)] 

Snow in a furnace, To roast : see Roast. 

Snow King, The : Gustavus Adolphus of 
Sweden (1594-1632), The name given 
to him by the Viennese, because as he 
proceeded south his successes dim- 
inished or melted away. 

Snow Queen, The : Christina of Sweden 
(1626-89). 

Snuff, Up to : wideawake, to be deceived 
with great difficulty. 

Soaped-pig fashion, In : of writing or 
speaking, vaguely, so that an oppor- 
tunity is always left for an alternative 
explanation. In allusion to the 
practice at country fairs of soaping a 
pig’s tail and then setting it free to be 
caught by the crowd. 

Soapy Sam: Samuel Wilberforce (1805- 
73), Bishop of Oxford and of Win- 
chester. 

Socinians : the forerunners of the 
modem Unitarians, founded by Laelius 
Socinus (1525-62) andFaustusSocinus 
(1539-1604). 

Sociates, The English ; Dr. Samuel 
Johnson. So-called by Boswell. After 
Socrates, the famous Athenian philoso- 
pher, who lived from about 470 to 
399 B.C. 

Socrates, The Jewish : Moses Mendel- 
ssohn {1729-86). 

Socrates, The Mad : Diogenes (c. 412- 
323 B.C.), Grk. cynic philosopher. 

Socrates, the Roman : Sapiens Laelius 
(186-post 122 B.C.). 

Socratic : of teaching based on a series 
of questions. After Socrates (c. 470- 
399 B.C.), Athenian philosopher. 

Socratic irony : a method of dialectics 
by which, through pretended ignorance, 
the ignorance of one’s opponent is 
disclosed. See Socratic. 

Soft job, A : an easy occupation. 

Soft sawder : flattery. 

Soft soap : flatter}^ 

Softly, To walk: to be low-spirited. 
Walking softly was in ancient Greece 
a display of mourning. [I Kings, 
xxi, 27] 


y 



Softy] 5^2 iSop 


Softy, A : a foolish, person. 

Soi-disant (Pr.) : self-styled. [Lord 
Chesterfield, Letters, Vol. II, No. 71 

(175*)] ^ ^ 

Sold, To be ; to he betrayed. 

Soldier of fortime, A : one who lives by 
his wits ; in medieval times, who hired 
himself out to any party that wished 
to employ him. \The Last Will and 
Testament of Chary ng Crosse {1646)] 

Soldier over . . To come the old : to 
impose on. 

Soldier’s Battle, The : (i) Malplaquet 
(1709) I (2) Inkerman (1854). On 
account of the extent to which the 
Brit, rank and file were thrown on 
their own responsibility on account of 
the splitting up of units and separation 
from officers by the fog. 

Soldier’s heart : a complaint of the chest 
induced by excessive military drill. 

Solecism, A : a misapplication of words. 
From Soli, in Cilicia, where an 
Athenian colony settled and allowed 
its native language to degenerate. 
[Bacon, Essays : Of Empire (1625)] 

Solemn League and Covenant, The : the 
agreement between the Eng. parlia- 
ment and the Scots in March, 1643, 
whereby it was determined to extirpate 
popery, prelacy, etc., and incidentally 
to join forces in opposition to Charles I. 
The signatories were known as Cove- 
nanters. 

Solid South, The : the Southern States 
of the Union which were solid in their 
support of the Democratic Party from 
the Civil War until 1896. 

Solitary Monk, The : Martin Luther 
(1483-1546), the founder of Protestant- 
ism. So-called by Robert Montgomery 
in Luther (1842). 

Solomon, A : a wise man. After 
Solomon, King of Israel. 

Solomon of England, The : see English 
Solomon. 

Solomon of France, The : (i) Louis IX 

(1215-70) ; (2) Charles V {1337-80). 

Solomon, The Second : (i) Henry VII of 
England: (2) James I of England. 

Solomon, As wise as: in allusion to 
King Solomon. [Chester Plays ( 1327)] 

Solon, A : a man of great wisdom. After 
Solon, the Athenian legislator and one 
of the seven sages of Greece. 

Solon of French Prose, The: Balzac 
(1596-1655). 

Solon of Parnassus, The : Jean Jacques 
Boileau (1649-1735). So-called by 
Voltaire. 


Solon’s happiness : death. From Solon’s 
remark, * Call no one happy until his 
death.’ 

Solvitur ambulando (Lat,, it is solved by 
walking) : the difficulty wiU settle 
itself. 

Soma, To drink the : to become immortal. 
From the belief expressed in the Vedic 
hymns that the juice of the soma or 
moonplant confers immortality. 

Son, The : Jesus Christ, Son of God. 

Son of a sea cook, A : an address of 
contempt. 

Son of Belial, A : a wicked man. 
[Judges, xix, 22] 

Son of dripping, A : a male cook. 
[Peter Pindar, The Lousiad, canto ii 
(1786)] 

Son of earth, A : a person of mean birth. 

Son of Jupiter Ammon, The : Alexander 
the Great, the greatest monarch of 
ancient times. Traditionally descended 
from Jupiter and saluted as a god at 
the temple of Ammon. 

Son of the Last Man, The : Charles II of 
England. So-called by the Puritans 
to indicate that his father, Charles I, 
was the last king of England. 

Son of lather, A : a barber. [Peter 
Pindar, Lyric Odes to the Royal 
Academicians for 1785, Ode I] 

Son of Mars, A : a soldier. [Bartholomew 
Faire, p, 2 (1641)] 

Son of Mercury, A : a wit. 

Son of the morning, A : a traveller. In 
allusion to the practice in the East of 
travellers rising early in order to 
avoid the fatigue of travelling in the 
heat of the day. 

Son of the Nine, A : a poet. In allusion 
to the nine Muses. [Peter Pindar, 
Instructions to a Celebrated Laureat 
(1786)] 

Son of parchment, A : a lawyer. 

Son of Neptune, A : see Neptune. 

Son of Perdition, The : Judas Iscariot. 
[John, xvii, 12] 

Son of the ro^ A : an echo. 

Son of Saint Cxi^in, A : see Saint Crispin. 

Sons of morning. The : the angels. 
[Milton, On the Morning of Christ’s 
Nativity : the Hymn (1629)] 

Sons of Phidias : sculptors. In allusion 
to Phidias (c. 500-434 B.C.), the 
greatest sculptor of ancient Greece. 

Song, The Father of Modem French : 

Charles Franc^ois Panard (1689-1765). 

Sop to Cerberus, A : a gift to quieten one 
who disturbs one’s peace. From the 
practice among the ancients of placing 



323 


Sop] 


[Sow 


a cake in the hands of the dead as a 
gift to Cerberus, the three-headed dog 
of Pluto which guarded the entrance 
to the lower regions. 

Sop in the pan, A : a bribe. 

Sorbonne, The : the University of Paris. 
After Robert de Sorbon, Canon of 
Cambrai, who founded a learned 
institution in Paris in 1252. 

Sort of war, A : the later stages of the 
Boer War of 1899 et seg., as described 
by the Earl of Halsbury at Sheffield 
(Oct. 3, 1901)- * It may be, and may 
be perfectly true, that there is going 
on now a sort of warfare. But is it 
war? ' 

Sortes Biblicae : fortune-telling by open- 
ing the Bible at random. 

Sortes Virgilianae (LaU, Vir^an lots) : 
fortune-telling by opening Virgil's 
jEneid at random. [Sir P. Sidney, 
Defence of Poesie, Pt. I, § 4 (1595)] 
Sorts, Out of : in indifferent health. P'rom 
the Fr., itre d^rangd, to be disarranged. 
If cards are disarranged they are out 
of sorts. [Peter Pindar, Pindariana : 
Apology for Inconstancy (1794)] 

Sosia, A : a double. After a character 
in Plautus's comedy, Amphitryon, 
SotaCiics ; Sotadic Verse : verses or lines 
that read the same backwards and 
forwards. After Sotades of Maroneia 
(d. c. 285 B.C.), the inventor. 

Sotto voce (Ital,, under the voice) : in a 
low voice. 

Sough, To keep a calm (Scot .) : to keep 
quiet. Sough, a breath. 

Soul of . . To be the : to be the inspiration 
of .. 

Soul one’s own. Not to be able to call 
one’s : to be entirely under the control 
of another person. 

Soul, The palace of the : the head. 

[Waller, On 'Pea (c. 1645)] 

Soul Mass Day : All Souls’ Day. 
Soul-cakes : cakes given to the poor 
on All Souls* Day in Staffordshire and 
Cheshire. 

Sound a person. To : to examine in- 
directly. From ' to sound,* in the 
sense of to measure the depth of water. 
Sound as a bell. As ; quite sound. 
When a bell is cracked it is useless. 
[Chapman, All Fools, III, i (1605)] 
Sound as a roach. As : in perfect health. 
After St. Roche, the guardian against 
pestilence. [Moufet and Bennet, 

' HeaUh*s Improvement (1655)] 

Sound as a rock. As : sound as a roach 
(q.v,). 


Sound the trumpet before victory. To : 

to act foolishly. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Soup, To be in the : to be in a difficulty ; 
to be defeated. The phrase came into 
general use in the United States during 
the election of 1888. It was, however, 
in use in Germany much earlier. 

Souper, A (Anglo-Irish) : a missionary 
who makes converts with the assistance 
of free soup ; one converted to 
Protestantism in this manner. 

Sour grapes : see Grapes. 

South Sea Bubble, The : the hnancial 
scheme which, ^ter a period of wild 
speculation, collapsed in 1720 and 
involved a large number of people in 
ruin. 

Sow discord. To ; to cause dissension. 
[Proverbs, vi, 19] 

Sow dragon’s teeth. To : to lay up 
trouble. See Dragon’s teeth. 

Sow by the ear. To have the right : to 
hit upon the right conclusion. A sow 
is a large tub with two handles, used 
for pickling. The phrase is attributed 
to Henry VIII of England in allusion 
to Cardinal Wolsey, who made a 
pleasing suggestion regarding the pro- 
projected royal divorce. For the 
opposite, ' to take the wrong sow by 
the ear,’ see Heywood, Proverbes (1546). 
The latter metaphor was also used by 
Cervantes in Don Qui;voie, Pt. I, Bk. 
Ill, ch. iv. 

Sow playing on a trump. To look like a : 

to look dissatisfied and angry. [Scott, 
Rob Roy, ch. 25 (1818)] 

Sow what another reaps, To: to work 
for another’s profit. [John, iv, 36] 

Sow on the sand. To : to act foolishly 
and to no purpose. [Diogenes, 
Vindol, III, 71 ; Rob. Southwell, St, 
Peter's Complaint : Love's Servile Lot, 
11. 73-4 (1595)] 

Sow to the tail of the grice. To lay the 
head of the : to make the cheapness 
of one thing cover the cost of another ; 
to take the good with the bad. [Scott, 
Rob Roy, ch. 24 (1818)] 

Sow tares amongst the wheat by night, 
To : to cause evil by deceit. [Mat- 
them, xiii, 25] 

Sow in tears and reap in joy. To : sorrow 
to be succeeded by gladness. [Psalms, 
cxxvi, 5-6] 

Sow wild oats. To : to give free rein to 
the calls of youth. The word ' oats ’ 
has two allusions: (i) to the spirit 
given by a diet of oats to horses; 



Sow! 3^4 


to the parable of the sower. 
[Bacon, Workes, 240 {1570)] 

Sow the wind. To : to do evil or cause 
trouble and to be repaid a thousand- 
fold. [Hosea, viii, 7] 

Spade a spade, To call a : to speak 
bluntly and frankly without verbal 
embroidery. Philip II of Macedon 
(382-336 B.C.) described his subjects 
as people who call a spade a spade. 
[Gosson, Ephemcridcs of Phials (1579)] 

Spadish langnage : plain, blunt language. 
From ' to cadi a spade a spade." See 
previous entry. 

Spain, Castles in : see Castles. 

Spanish Ennins, The : Juan de Mena 
{1411-56). After Quintus Ennius, 
Lat. poet (239-170 B.C.). 

Spanish Fury, !Hie : the sack of Antwerp 
by the Span, troops in 1576. 

Spanish l^dn. The : generally the 
Caribbean Sea, but more properly the 
lands surrounding that sea which were, 
until early in the 19th cent., in Spanish 
possession. 

Spanish Xolidre, The : Leandro 

Fernandez de Moratin (1760-1828). 
After Moliire (1622-73). Fr. dramatist. 

gj fintgh money : fair words only. From 
the reputation of the Span, govern- 
ment of neglecting to pay its debts. 

Spanish Phocmix, The: Lope de Vega- 
Caipio (1562-1635), poet and drama- 
tist. So-called by G. H. Lewes. 

Spanish pike. The : the needle. Needles 
are said to have been introduced into 
England from Spain. 

Spanish Shakespeare, The : see Shakes- 
peare. 

Spanish, To walk : to compel a person 
to walk, by holding him by the collar 
and the seat of his trousers. 

Spaitaoist, A : an extreme communist. 
After Spartacus, leader of the insurgent 
slaves in their war against Home 
(73-71 B.C.). 

Spaitan, A : (r) a person of tried hardi- 
hood ; (2) undaunted. After Sparta, 
in Greece, whose inhabitants were 
famous in history for their hardihood 
and dauntlessness. 

Spartan dog, A : a bloodhound. 

Spasmodic School, The : a group of 19th 
cent. Eng. writers — Gerald Massey, 
Sydney Dobell, Philip James Bailey, 
Alexander Smith, George Gilfillan and 
others, grouped together on account of 
their artificial literary style. 

Spat<dlCO€k, To : to interpolate a remark 
or passage. Properly, to split a fowl 


open and to grill it, as a quick method 
01 cooking. 

Speak of things more ancient than chaos. 
To : to act to no purpose. From an 
ancient Grk. proverb. 

Speak volumes, To : see Volumes. 

Speak the word. To : to give a command. 
[J. T., Grim, the CoHer of Croydon, 
IV, i (1662)] 

Speaker, The : the chairman of a 
parliament. 

Speaker’s eye. To catch the : to be called 
on by the Speaker to address the 
House of Commons. 

Speaking terms. Not to be on : to know 
one another but not to be friendly 
enough to speak to one another. 

Spear to kill a Hy, To take a : see Take. 

Spear, To pass under the: to sell by 
auction. 

Spear, To run against the pdnt of a : 
see Hun. 

Spear, To sell under (at) the : to sell by 
auction. 

Spear half : the male side of a family. 
The opposite of spindle half (?.v.); 

Spell-hinder, A : an orator who binds 
his hearers as if by a spell. Orig. an 
American political term introduced 
about 1888. 

Spenlow and Jorkins : a partnership in 
which one party always uses the other 
as an excuse for any unjust or un- 
pleasant action. After a firm in 
Dickens, David Copperfield (1849}. 

Spenser of English Prose, The : Jeremy 
Taylor (1613-67). After Edmund 
Spenser (c. 1552-99), the great 

romantic poet of Elizabethem England. 

Spenser to Sleekaoe, From: from the 
sublime to the ridiculous. [Dryden, 
Comment on Spenser'\ 

Sphere of Influence, A ; a region 
inhabited by a population in a back- 
ward state of civilization or otherwise 
incapable of repelling foreign^ ag- 
gression, which is agreed to be within 
the province of one of the powers, 
without that power being required to 
take any responsibility for its admin- 
istration. 

Sphinx, A : an inscrutable person. After 
an Egyptian monument, half human, 
half lion. 

Spick and span : absolutely new. Several 
derivations have been suggested for 
this phrase, (i) From Lah, spica, an 
ear of com, and the spawn of a fresh 
fish; (2) from Ital., spiccata de la 
spanna, snatched from the hand, i»e.. 



Spies] 


3«5 


[SpooBSrisiii 


freshly made ; (3) a spinning metaplior, 
newly spun trom the ^ike or brooch ; 
(4) irom spike, a sixteenth part of a 
3^Lid. and span, a quarter ot a yard, 
implying therefore, of a suit of clothes, 
fresh from the tailor; (5) from the 
spannans (stretchers) and the spikes 
(hooks) on which doth was hung. 
[Chaucer, Troilus, III, 1663-6 (1386) ; 
jRfiddleton, The Familie of Love, IV, 3 
(1608)] 

gpies but in battaHong, Not sin^e : of 
several inddents, ^.g., misfortunes, 
following in quick succession. [Shake- 
speare, Hamlet, IV, v (i6o*-3)] 

flpigoi and spUl at the bung. To spare at 
the : to be miserly in small matters 
and extravagant in great. 

Spilt milk, To ery over : see Cry. 

Spindle CHty, The: Lowell, Mass. In 
allusion to its cotton spinning in- 
dustry. 

Spindle halfi The : the female side of the 
family. After the spindle employed 
in spinning, the former general occu- 
pation of women in England. 

Spindle^side, On the : on the female side. 
See Spindle h^. 

Spinning Jeoony, A : a machine for 
spixming. Jenny is a diminutive of 


engme. 

Spirit away, To : to kidnap ; to carry 
away surreptitiously. Seventeenth 
century kidnappers, who sold their 
victims to the West Indian planters, 
used to be known as * spirits.' 

Spitf&e, A ; a person whose anger is 
easily aroused. 

Spit vinegar. To: to utter spiteful 
remarks. [Lyly, Sappho and Fkao, 
IV. iv (1591)] 

Spite and spun. To: to be enraged. 
[Ingeland, JDisohedient Child, 1. 373 

A : a Pxesbyrterian. Pro- 
uerlv a crooked mouth. 

Sbmdid Isolation: Lord Salisbury's 
ForeigiL PoUcy, that of independence 
of all foreign alliances. So-described 
by George Joachim, Viscount Goschen 
(1831-1907). 

Splsamde mendaz {Lot .) : magnificently 
deceiving. [Horace, Odes, HI, zi, 55] 

Siditnpon . . To : to betray a confidence. 

Split the difference. To : to commomise ; 
to meet halfway. [Beni. Franklin, 
Poof Riehoi^d's Almanac loT 1750] 

Sidit straws (hairs). To: to argue or 
dispute over infinitesimal differences. 
[Congreve, Old Bachelor, II, ii (1693)] 


Spoil for a fight. To : to be eager for a 
contest. 

Bptfilspori; A : one who interferes 
gratuitously to upset the plans of 
others. [Haughton, Woman WiU 
Have Her WiU (1397)] 

Spoils System, The : the Amer. system of 
making office in the Qvil Service the 
reward for political services, involving 
as a consequence widespread dismissal 
of officials whenever a change of party 
in office occurred. The system was 
introduced by President Andrew Jack- 
son (x 767-1 845) on the ground that, 
as epigrammatically expressed by 
William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) 
in the U.S. Senate in Jan., 1832, ' to 
the victors belong the spoils of the 
enemy.' 

Spdke in fiha wheel of - . To put a : to 
interfere in another person's affairs. 
[Lyly. Euphues (xsSx) ; Beaumont 
and Fletcher, The Mad Lover {1647)] 
Orig. this phrase had the opposite 
meaning, vis., to increase a person's 
force by adding to the number of the 
spokes in his wheel. 

Spcfiia opima (LoX.) : the richest spoils of 
victory. [Livy, I, xo ; Virgil, Mneid, 
vi, 856] 

Sponge on . . To : to live at the expense 
of others as a parasite, t.s., to suck in 
like a sponge without repayment of 
any kind. [Mi6ge, French Dictionary 
(1677)] 

Spongy To throw np the : to abandon 

• the contest. A prizefighting term. 

Sponging house, A : a place of intern- 
ment for debtors. From 'to sponge* 
in the sense, * to squeeze.* 

^oon in one’s month. To be bom witii a 
stiver : see Silver spoon. 

Spoon or spofl a horn, To make a : to 
make a determined effort which may 
result in success or failure. In 
allusion to the practice in Scotland, 
until late in the 19th cent., of making 
spoons out of the horns of cattle. 

Spoon in the wall. To stidc one’s : to die. 
In allusion to the early practice of 
hanging one's spoon and other articles 
of dsuly use in an available place on 
the wall of one's home. 

Spoon, To gain the wooden : see Wooden 
spoon. 

Spocmexisni, A : an accidental exchange 
of two sounds in speech. After 
the Hev. William Archibald Spooner 
(b. 1844), Warden of New CSfilege, 
Oxford. 



Spoon-feed] 326 

Spoon-feed, To : to feed with a spoon, 
i.a., to nurse as a child. 

Sport, To be : to be good fun. [R. B., 
Appius and Virginia, 605 (1563)] 

Sport of kings. The: (i) horseracing; 

(2) hunting. According to Somervile. 
[The Chace. I, 13 (i735)] 

Spotted dog (duff) : plain plum pudding. 
Spotted dough (dog). 

Sprat to catch a whale (herring) 
(mackerel), To throw a: to risk a 
small loss in the hope of securing a 
great gain. 

Spread a plaster, To take a hammer to : 

see Take. 

Spread-eagle, To : see Spreadeagleism. 

Spreadeagle oratory ; exaggerated, 
bombastic, extravagant oratory. 

Spreadea^eism : extravagant boasting 
and praise of the United States, their 
institutions, etc. After the eagle as 
the Amer. national symbol. 

Spring from the years. To take the : see 
Take. 

Sprinkle incense on a dunghill, To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Spruce : neatly attired. From Prussia. 

To be spnice meant originally to dress 
in Prussian fashion. 

Spur of the moment, On the: spon- 
taneously ; without hesitation. 

Ck^urs, To dish up the : to hint to guests 
that it is time to depart. The custom 
arose in the Rng.-Scot. borderlands, 
when provisions ran out, for a pair of 
spurs to be sent to table as a hint that 
a raid for provisions was desirable. 

Spurs, To win one’s : to earn admission 
into a certain rank or class. Properly, 
to gain by one's deeds the spurs of 
knighthood. [Poston Letters, No. 732 

{1473)] 

Spy Wednesday : the Wednesday befo^ 
Go^ Friday on which Judas is 
reputed to have decided to act as a spy. 

Squad, The awkward : a squadron of raw 
recruits, not yet trained. 

Squalls, To look out for ; to prepare for 
trouble. A nautical metaphor. 

Square a person. To : to satisfy ; to 
make satisfactory arrangements with. 
Esp, by means of a bribe. 

Square an account, To : to balance an 
account. 

Square, To act on the : to act straight- 
forwardly. [Chapman, Iliad, XIII, 
138 (1611)] 

Square, Out of : out of order. [Damon 
and Pithias, 1045-6 (1567)] 


[Staff 

Square with . . To : to make agree 
with .. 

Square the circle, To : to effect the 
apparently impossible. It is mathe- 
matically impossible to construct a 
square occupying exactly the same 
amount of space as a circle. 

Square deahng : straightforward, honour- 
able dealing. [Overburj^ Characters : 
A Puritan (1616)] 

Square peg in a round hole, A : see 
Round peg in a square hole. 

Square-toes, Old: a precisian. [Peter 
Pindar, Pathetic Odes: The Duke of 
Richmond's Dog (1794)] 

Squarson, A : the combination in one 
person of squire and parson. Term 
invented by Henry Mereweather before 
a committee of the House of Commons 
in 1861 and popularized by Samuel 
Wilberforce, Bp. of Oxford and of 
Winchester. 

Squatter sovereignty : the doctrine of 
popular sovereignty in the United 
States as formulated by Lewis Cass 
in 1847. So-called by John Caldwell 
Calhoun (1782-1850). 

Squattocracy, The : the class of squatters 
or large landowners in Australia. 

Squeers, A : a cruel schoolmaster. After 
a character in Dickens, Nicholas 
Nickleby (1838). 

Squeeze a person. To : to bring pressure 
to bear on a person, esp. with a view 
to extorting money. [Swift, The 
Beast's Confession (1732). 

Sqnih, A : apolitical pleasantry. 

Squirarchy, The : the class of squires or 
resident landowners. 

Squire of the Body, A : an Apple squire 

Squire of dames, A : a man who pays 
much attention to women. A squire 
of dames was introduced by Spenser in 
the Faerie Queen, Bk. Ill, c. vii 
(1590-6). 

Squireen, A : a small landowner in 
Ireland who farms his own land. 

Stab in the back, A : a cowardly betrayal. 

Stable door after the steed is stden. To 
look the : to take precautions after 
the harm has been effected. [Les 
Proverbes del Vilain (1300) ; Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

Staff in a pla^ To put one’s : to take 
np one's residence in a place. In 
allusion to the tent-staff of the 
nomads. 

Staff in one’s own hand,.To keep the : to 
retain possession. In allusion to the 



staff] 327 [State 


stafi or sceptre as the symbol of 
power and authority. 

Staff of life. The : breaid. ‘ Staff * being 
used in the sense of * support.* 

Staff, To part with one’s : to give up 
office or possession. In allusion to 
the staff of office. 

Sta^ord Court, To have a treat in : to 
be well beaten. A play on * staff/ a 
cudgel. 

Stafford law : the law of the cudgel. A 
play on the word * staff.* 

Stage fright : nervousness in public. 
Properly, the sh3niess or nervousness 
of an actor on his first appearance on 
the stage. 

Stager, An old : a veteran ; one who has 
had prolonged experience. Med. 
Lat., StagiariuSt an aged monk past 
activity. 

Stagyrite, A ; Stagirite, A : a disciple of 
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). After his 
birthplace, Stageira, in Macedonia. 

Stalemate, A : a deadlock in which 
neither party has the advantage. A 
chess-pla3ring term. 

Stalking-horse, A : anything used for the 
purpose of concealing one’s purpose. 
Properly a real or imitation horse 
used as a cover when shooting wild- 
fowl. 

Stamp Act, The : an act of the British 
parliament (1765) imposing stamp 
duties on the Amer. colonies, which led 
direct to the secession of those colonies 
and the establishment of the United 
States of America. 

Stamp Duty, A : an inland revenue tax 
paid by means of a stamp. 

Stand on ceremony. To : to be punctilious 
in regard to matters of etiquette. 

Stand and deliver. To : to surrender. 
Properly, to stand still and deliver 
over one’s property to a highway- 
man. 

Stand or fall. To : to succeed or fail. 
[Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, Pt. 
I, Sect, ii, Mem. i (1621)] 

Stand on one’s own feet. To : see Feet. 

Stand in good stead. To : to be of great 
assistance or service to . . [Rich. 
Edwards, Damon and Pithias, 1407 

(1567)] 

Stand to one’s guns. To : to adhere to 
one’s expressed opinion. A military 
metaphor. 

Stand in the light of • . To : to impede 
the advantage of . . [Earle, Micro- 
cosmography : A Suspitioids Man 
(1628)] 


Strad in one’s own light. To : to neutral- 

ize one’s own opportunities. [Seneca, 
Ppistulae, XCIV, 28 ; Heywood, 
Prcverhes (1546)] 

Stand to re^on, To : to be obvious. 

Stang, To ride the ; to be ruled by one’s 
wife or other female relative. After 
the stang or pole on which a man who 
ill-treated his wife used to be placed. 

Star, A : (i) a prominent actor or 

vocalist ; (2) one who * shines ’ in 

society or literature or art, etc. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk. II 
(1570)] 

Star to he in the ascendant. One’s : to be 
fortunate in one’s affairs. An 
astrological metaphor. 

Star Chamber, A : a secret, irresponsible 
tribunal. After the Star Chamber (so- 
called from the decoration of the 
ceiling of the room in which the Court 
met), a court established in 1487 which 
ultimately became an instrument of 
oppression and of the suppression of 
liberty. It was abolished in 1641. 

Star, One’s evil (lucky) : one’s evil 
(fortunate) influence. Term derived 
from astrology. [Lyly, Endimion, IV, 

iii (X591)] 

Star of the North, The : Gustavus 
Adolphus of Sweden (1594-1632). So- 
called by the Protestants of Germany. 

Stars and Bars, The: the flag of the 
Confederate States of America. 

Stars &om the sky. To snatch the : to 
attempt the impossible. 

Stars and Stripes, The : the flag of the 
U.S., which consists of 13 stripes, one 
for each of the original states of the 
Union, and a number of stars, one for 
each of the present states. 

Star-crossed : unfortunate. An astro- 
logical metaphor. 

Starred, 111 : unlucky ; properly, bom 
under an unfavourable star. An 
astrological metaphor. 

Star-spangled Banner, The : the national 
flag of the United States which con- 
tains a star for every one of the states 
of the Union. After the title of an 
Amer. national song by Francis Scott 
Key (1780-1843). 

Starving it, To take a town by: see 

Take. 

State, The three ages of a : ‘In the youth 
of a state arms do flourish; in the 
middle age of the state, learning ; and 
then both of them together for a time ; 
in the declining age of a state, 
mechanical arts and merchandize.’ 



status] 328 [Still 


[Bacon, Ss$ay»s: Of Vicissitudes of 
Things (1625)] 

Status ano, Tie ; In state uuo {Lot,, 
state in which.) : the existing state of 
affairs. [Burton, Anatomy of Melon- 
choly. To the Reader (1621)] 

Steady Hahits, The Land of : the State 
of Connecticut. In allusion to the 
staid deportment and high morality 
of its people, 

Stea^ as the Polar Star, As : consistent. 
[Mercurius Rusticus, Bihliophobia^ 
p. 94 (1832)] 

Stw a march on . * To : to overtake or 
take advantage of secretly. A military 
metaphor. 

Steal one’s thunder, To : to appropriate 
another person's principal arguments. 
John Dennis (1657-1734) invented 
artificial thunder for a play of his 
which proved unsuccessful. Shortly 
afterwards, at a representation of 
Macbeth at Drury Lane Theatre, he 
found that his invention was being 
utilized and exclaimed, ' They will not 
let my play run, yet they steal my 
tihunder.* 

Steals my purse steals trash, Who : the 
greatest treasure is not material ^d 
is therefore secure from the thief. 
[Shakespeare, Othello, III, iii (1604)] 
Stithy School of Criticism, The : 
pseudon3nnous criticism. Phrase in- 
vented by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in a 
letter to the Athenaeum, Dec. 16, 1871, 
in allusion to Robert Buchanan, the 
author, under a nom-de-plume, of * The 
Fleshly School of Poetry/ in the 
Contemporoey Review of October, 
1871. 

Steel the heart. To: to harden the 
heart. 

Stedhoys, The : an Irish agrarian secmt 
society, active in Down and Antrim 
about 1770. 

SMyard, The: the headquarters of a 
guild of Germ, merchants which was 
active in London hrom the 13th to the 
x6th cents. 

Steer dear of . . To : to avoid. [Fielding, 
Voyage to Lisho^i, July 26th, 1755] 

StelUmhosdi, To : to transfer to a less 
important military post. After 
Stellenbosch, Cape Colony, to which 
town o&cers who failed in the Kafi^ 
wars were transferred, as a super- 
cession without a fonnal disgrace. 

Sfcmtoriaa : (of voices) very loud. After 
Stentor, a Grk. herald at Troy, 
mentioned by Homer. 


Steps of . . To tread in the : to follow the 
example of . . [Bunyan, Rilgyim's 
Throgress, Ft. II (1684)] 

Stephen’s bread, St. : stones. In allu- 
sion to the stoning of St. Stephen. 

Stephen’s bread. To be fed with : to be 
stoned. See Stephen's bread, St. 

Stem chase, A : see Chase. 

Stew in one’s own juice, To : to be 
refused assistance to escape from a 
difficult position and to be left to get 
out of it as best one can. [Chaucer, 
Wife of Bathes Tale, Prolo^e (i4tb 
cent.)] 

Stick to one’s guns. To: to maintain 
one's position; to stand fast before 
an attack. 

Stick, To get hold of the wrong end of 
tee : (i) to have the disadvantage in 
a controversy or contest ; (2) to get 
hold of the wrong story or facts. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Stick to one’s last, To : not to interfere 
in matters with which one is un- 
familiar. Apelles (fl. 332 B.C.), the 
Grk. painter, was accustom^ to 
exhibit his pictures to the public while 
he in concealment listened tj their 
criticisms. A bootmaker criticised 
the shoes in a picture, whereupon 
Apelles altered them to meet the 
criticism. The following day the 
bootmaker, returning, began to criti- 
cize the anatomy of one of the figures, 
whereupon the painter, from his 
place of concealment, ejaculated, 
^Cobbler, stick to your last/ A 
similar story is told of Phidias (c. 
490-432 B.C.), the Grk. sculptor. 

Stiok-in-tee-mud, A ; a slow person ; 
one who is left behind in the race of 
life. 

Stidc at nothing. To: to reject no 
measure calculated to assist towards 
one's object. [Thos. Preston, King 
Cambyses, 361-2 (1561) ; Joe Miller's 
Jests, No. 44 (1739)] 

Sticks, To beat to : to out-do ; surpass. 

Sticks, In anick : quickly. 

Stiokit minister, A (Scot,) : a disqualified 
parson, esp. one who has failed in his 
first attempt to preach and never 
made another. 

Stiff as a poker. As : rigid. 

Stiggins, A : an intemperate, hypo- 
critical parson. From a character in 
Dickens. Pickwick Papers (1836). 

Still as a rock. As : motionless. [Van- 
brugh, The Provoked Wife, IV, i 

(1697)] 



329 


Still] 

Still as a stone, As : without motion. 
[Exodus, XV, 1 6 ; Chaucer, Legends of 
Good Women, 308-10 (14th cent.)] 

Still-room maid, A : a female domestic 
servant. Orig. from the room in the 
house in which the still for the distilla- 
tion of perfumes and cordials was kept. 

Sting in the tail. The ; the dijB&culty or 
unpleasantness in the conclusion. An 
allusion to the scorpion which carries 
its sting in its tail. [Defoe, Tour in 
the Eastern Counties, Letter I (1724)] 

Stink in the nostrils. To : to be abhorrent. 

Stinking fish. To cry : to depreciate 
one's own interests. 

Stir one’s stumps. To : to move ; to 
walk. ' Stumps ' in the sense of ' legs.* 

Stirrup-cup, A : a parting drink given 
when the guest is already in the saddle. 

Stitch in time, A : a timely remedy. 
From the proverb, ' A stitch in time 
saves nine.* 

Stiver, A : an insignificant amount of 
money. Properly, a Dutch coin worth 
about a halfpenny. 

Stock in. To take no : to have nothing to 
do with. 

Stock, lock and barrel : the whole, in 
its entirety. After the different parts 
of a rifle. 

Stocks, To be on the ; to be in prepara- 
tion. A ship-building metaphor. 

Stocks and stones : an idol (made out of 
wood or stone). [Deuteronomy , xxviii, 
36] 

Stocking, A long : a store of money. 
Properly a stocking used as a receptacle 
for money savings. 

Stoic, A : one who suppresses all 
expressions of pain and pleasure and 
cultivates the virtue of patient endur- 
ance. After the stoa or porch in which 
Zeno (fl. 300 B.C.), the founder of a 
Grk. school of philosophy whose 
doctrines were characterized by 
extreme austerity, taught. 

Stole, Groom of the : a household ofi&cial 
in the Eng. court. 

Stolypin’s necktie : the hangman's rope. 
After Piotr Arkadievitch Stolypin 
(1863-1911), oppressive Russ, states- 
man. The phrase was coined in 1907 
by Rodicheff , a member of the Duma. 

Stone Age, The : a remote period. 
Properly, that early period in human 
development in which stone was 
almost exclusively used for the manu- 
facture of weapons and other imple- 
ments. 

Stone, Blood from a : see Blood. 


[Stoolf 

Stone broke ; absolutely without means. 

Stone, To cast the first : to make a 
charge against . . ; with reference to 
John, viii, 7. 

Stone, To Mil two birds with one : to 
accomplish two purposes by one effort. 
[Hobbes, Tetter Upon Liberty and 
Necessity, 117 (1654)] 

Stone rolling. To set a : to commence an 
undertaking whose results cannot be 
foreseen. [Shakespeare, Henry VIII, 
V, iii f 1612-3)] 

Stone unturned. To leave no : to avoid 
no possible effort. ' Turn every 
stone * was the advice given by the 
Delphic Oracle to Pol\ crates (d. 515 
B.C.), Tyrant of Samos. ' To leave 
no stone unturned,' see Euripides, 
Heraclidae. 

Stones instead of bread : harshness where 
sympathy is expected. [Matthew, vii 
9] 

Stones at . . To cast : to make charges 
against . . [Fulke, Heskins* Parlia- 
ment (1579)] 

Stones in one’s mouth. To have : to 
stammer. In allusion to Demosthenes 
(382-22 B.C.), Athenian orator and 
statesman, who is said to have cured 
himself of stuttering by reciting with 
pebbles in his mouth. 

Stone’s throw. Within a: within a 
moderate distance. Properly, that to 
which the average man could cast a 
stone. [A. HaU, Iliad, III, 45 (1581)] 

Stonemason of Cromarty, The: Hugh 
Miller (1802-1856), geologist and man 
of letters. 

Stonewall Jacksons Thomas Jonathan 
Jackson (1824-63), Amer. Confederate 
general. The name is derived from a 
remark by Gen. Bernard E. Bee, made 
at the Battle of Bull Run, 'See, 
there is Jackson standing like a stone 
wall.* 

Stonewalling tactics : a purely defensive 
policy, allowing the enemy to throw 
himself, as it were, against a stone 
wall. 

Stony hearted : impervious to mercy. 
[Underdowne, Heliodorus, VII, 93 

(1569)] 

Stools, Between two: indecisive; be- 
tween two alternatives and therefore 
likely to secure neither. [Heywood, 
Proverhes, ' While betweene two 
stooles my taile go to the grounde.' 
(1546)] The proverb is, however, 
Fr. in origin, being found in Les 
Proverhes del Vilain (1300). 



stop] 330 [Strawberry 


Stop gap Adiiainistration, The : that of 
Lord Salisbury in 1885 which held 
office for a few months pending a 
general election. Phrase coined by 
Joseph Chamberlain. 

Stop gaps with rushes. To : to make a 
useless effort. [Heywood, Proverbes 
(1546)] 

Stop two gaps with one bush. To : to 
achieve a double purpose. [Heywood, 
Proverb es (1546)] 

Stork. A visit from the : birth of a child. 
From the explanation given in Ger- 
many to children. 

Storks’ Law : the Rom. law which 
compelled children to support their 
aged parents, as storks are said to do. 

Storm in a teacup, A : great excitement 
and perhaps acrimony over a matter 
of little consequence. The phrase is 
derived from a Rom. proverb * Excita- 
bat enim fluctus in simpulo.' Lit., 
he aroused a storm in a ladle, quoted by 
Cicero in Be Legibus, III, 16, 36. 
Paul I of Russia, at the end of the i8th 
cent., referred to the troubles in 
Geneva as a tempest in a glass of 
water. 

Stormy petrel, A : one who delights in 
contention or whose intervention 
generally forecasts trouble. Properly, 
a bird that is active in stormy weather. 

Stormy Petrel of Politics, The : John 
Scott, Earl of Eldon (1751-1838). 

Stove-pipe hat, A : a tall black silk hat, 

Stradivarius (Strad), A ; a very valuable 
violin, one of those made by Antonio 
Stradivari of Cremona (1644-1737). 

Straight as a die. As : absolutely upright 
and straightforward. Apparently in 
reference to the absolute regularity 
and smoothness of the die. 

Straight tip. The : a definite and clear 
hint. 

Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, To : 
to cause trouble over a trifle but to 
let a more important matter pass 
unheeded. [Matthew, xxiii, 24] 

Strasburg goose, A ; a person crammed 
with instruction at the expense of 
bodily exercise. Properly, a goose 
fattened for the purpose of enlarging 
its liver. 

Straw, In the : (i) in childbed, possibly 
in allusion to the straw laid down 
before the house of a sick person to 
soften the noise of the passing traffic, 
or to the straw with which beds were 
at one time stuffed ; [E. Ward, 

Hudibras Pedivivus, R’’, 18 {1705)] 


(2) in extreme poverty. [Lyly, 
Euphties : Anatomy of Wit {1579)] 

Straw bail: a man who made a pro- 
fession of standing security for another. 
See Man of straw. 

Straw to break with a person, To have a : 
to be about to reprove a person. In 
allusion to the feudal custom of 
breaking a straw as an indication of 
the cancellation of a contract of a 
tenancy. 

Straw, To make bricks without : to 
attempt a task with insufficient means. 
In allusion to the task imposed on the 
Israelites in Egypt. [Exodus, v ; 
Verney Memoirs, II, 79 {1658)] 

Straw (two, three straws). Not to care a : 
not to trouble about . , [Chaucer, 
Bethe Blaunche, 718 (c. 1369)] 

Straw, To clutch at any: to have 
recourse to any expedient, no matter 
how futile it may appear. From the 
proverb, * A drowning man clutches 
at a straw.' 

Straw to one’s dog and bones to one’s 
ass. To give: see Give. 

Straw in one’s ear, To wear a : to be on 
the look-out for a second husband. 
In allusion to the former Fr. fashion of 
placing a straw between the ears of 
a horse offered for sale. 

Straw, The last : the last of a series of 
events or burdens that leads to a 
catastrophe. From the proverb, ‘ It 
is the last straw which breaks the 
camel's back.* 

Straw, A man of : see Man of straw. 

Straw, To strike with a : see Strike. 

Straw, To stumble at a : see Stumble. 

Straw, Not worth a : of no appreciable 
value. [Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus 
{14th cent.)] 

Straws, To draw (gather, pick) : to be 
sleepy. [Mrs, H' Anvers, Academia, 
36 (1691)] 

Straws, To pick ; see Pick straws. 

Straws, To pludr at : see Pluck at 
straws. 

Straws against the wind. To throw : to 
struggle hopelessly against that which 
cannot be overcome. 

Strawberry Leaves ; the token of ducal 
rank. After the strawberry leaves 
that form part of the decoration of 
the coronet of a duke. 

Strawberry mark, A : a birth mark. 
From its supposed resemblance to a 
strawberry. 

Strawberry ihreacher, A : a non-resident 
parson who attended to his duties only 



stream] 


331 


[Stupid 


at long intervals, once a year. So- 
called by Bp. Latimer. 

Stream, To go (sail, swim) with the : to 
act in accord with the prevailing 
induence. 

Stream, To strive against the : to oppose 
prevailing influences. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546) ; Seneca, Episiulae, 
CXXII, T 9 ] 

Stream, To swim against the : see Swim. 

Street, The : (i) Wall Street, New York, 
and district ; (2) the financial quarter ; 
(3) the money market. 

Street, In Easy : in comfortable circum- 
stances. 


Street of Ink, The : Fleet Street, London, 
the headquarters of most of the 
principal London newspapers. See 
H. Simoni's book with that title. 

Street, .In Queer : see Queer Street. 

Street with . . Not in the same : to be 
quite inferior to . . 

Street and Walker, Messrs. : unemployed, 
who walk about the streets. 

Streets, The : a life of prostitution. 
[Shebbeare, Matrimony, II, 227 

(1754)] 

Street-walker, A : a prostitute, who 
walks the streets. [Mynshul, Essays 
on a Prison (1618)] 

Strength, On the : of soldiers' wives, 
whose marriage is recognized by the 
military authorities. 

Stretch a point. To : to make a con- 
cession ; to exceed a limit. [Rich. 
Edwards, Damon afid Pithias, 1405 

(1567)] 

Stricken field. The : the field on which a 
battle has been fought. 

Strict Q.T., On the: in confidence; 
quietly ; secretly. Q.T. = quiet. 

Strid^ To take in one’s : to deal with 
incidentally without interruption to 
one's main pursuit. 

Strike hands. To : to ratify a bargain. 
From the practice of shaking hands 
on concluding a bargain. 

Strike up the heels of . - To : to over- 
throw. [Marston, Antony and Mel, 

(1599)] 

Strike while the iron is hot. To : to act 
while the occasion is favourable. 

Strike oil. To : to be successful. A 
metaphor derived from the oilfields. 

Strike with a straw, To : to act foolishly 
and to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Strike thirteen. To: see Thirteen. 

Strike one’s truth. To : to pledge oneself 
by striking or clasping hands. 


String, To draw by one : to be in agree- 
ment. [W. Forrest, Grysilde Seconds 
(1558)] 

String, To hang together on a : to act 
together. [Hist, Jetzer (1679)] 

String, To harp on the one : to keep or 
return to the one subject. \Two 
Lancashire Lovers, 14 (1640)] 

String, To have on a (lead in a) : to have 
under complete control. [Melbancke, 
Philotimus, I, i (1583) ; Lyly, Euphues 
and His England (1580)] 

Strings to one’s bow. To have two : to 
have alternative courses or resources. 
[Wolsey, State Papers, Henry VIII, 
IV, 103 (1524)] 

Strings, To pull the : to control while 
remaining out of sight. 

Stroke a person the right way. To : to 
soothe, coax or flatter a person. 

Strong as death. As : [Song of Solomon, 
viii, 6] 

Strong hand. By the : see Hand. 

Stmldbrug : incapable of dying but 
living in a state of decrepitude and 
misery. After a race of immortals 
described by Swift in Gulliver* s 
Travels. 

Stuff Gown, A : a barrister of the outer 
bar, in distinction from a silk gown or 
King's Counsel. 

Stumble at a straw. To : to stumble 
without excuse. 

Stumble over a straw and leap over a 
block. To : to hesitate at a trifle, but 
face a greater difiSculty unconcerned. 
[Heywood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Stumble at (on) the thiei&old. To : to 
fail at the begiiming of an undertaking. 
[Langland, Piers Plowman, V, 337 

(1377)] 

Stump, On the : public speaking to the 
mob, rather than to intelligent 
audiences. See Stump orator. 

Stump the country. To : to make political 
speeches in all parts of the country. 
See Stump orator. 

Stump orator, A : a political advocate, 
who speaks down to the level of the 
mob. In America, where the term and 
practice originated, they used to speak 
from the stumps of trees or any other 
chance elevation. 

Stumps, To stir one’s : see Stir. 

Stunt, A : anything that attracts atten- 
tion or creates a sensation. In the 
first instance an undersized, stunted 
acrobat. 

Stupid Boy, The : Thomas Aquinas 
(1224-74), scholastic philosopher. 



Sturm] 33* [Shmdowner 


Storm nnd Drang {Germ,, storm and 
stress ) 

Sturm tind Drang Zeit, The {Germ., 
period of storm and stress) : the end 
ot the 1 8th cent., when the Fr. Revolu- 
tion had aroused in the minds of 
thinMng men a certain fermentation. 
After a title of a play by Friedrich 
Maximilian von Klinger. 

Stygian : infernal ; relating to the lower 
regions. After Styx, the mythical 
river which forms the boundary of 
Hell. 

Styles, Tom (John-a) ; see John-a-Styles. 

Sfer : see Stygian. 

Snaviier in modo, fortiter in re {LeU., 
pleasantly in manner, determinedly in 
fact) : with resolution in combination 
with politeness, [Trapp, Commentary 
on the O.T. (1654)] 

Sab judice {Lat., under the judge) : 
under judicial consideration. [J. 
Chamberlain, Court and Times of 
James /, Vol. I (1613)] 

Sab rosa : see Rosa. 

Sublime Porte, The ; see Porte. 

Submerged Tenth, The: the poorest 
class (estimated at ten per cent, of the 
population) always below the poverty 
^e. Phrase coined by 'William Booth 
of the Salvation Army in 1890. 

Subtle as a fox. As; very cunning. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk. I 

a serpent. As : see Serpent. 

Subtle Doctor, The : Duns Scotus (1265- 
Z308), s<^oolmaa. On account of his 
metaph3^cal acuteness. 

Saccos d’estime, A {Ft.) : a success 
of honourable approval if not of 
profit. 

Suoeds de soandale : a success, usually 
literary, due to impropriety and not 
to intrinsic merits. 

Suck a person’s brains, To: to take 
advantage of another person's know- 
ledge. 

Suoker State* The : Illinois. So-termed 
in derision by the other western states 
of the Union. The ‘Suckers* were 
the early settlers in the lead diggings 
of Wisconsin, who used regularly to 
return to tiiexr homes in Illinois for 
the winter. 

Suds, Mrs. : a laundress. In reference 
to soapsuds. 

Suffolk Punch, A: a man of Suffolk. 
A punch is a species of horse. 

Sugar loaf hat, A : a high-crowned hat 
coniced like a sugar loii. 


Sugrared words (speech) : pleasant but 
insincere speech. [T he Louer A ccusing 
hys Lotte 11. 19-22 (i557)] 

Sui generis {Lot,) : of its own character. 

Suit one’s hoo^ To : to serve one*s 
purpose ; to fall in with one’s arrange- 
ments. A betting metaphor. 

Suit of dittos, A : a suit of clothes, all 
made of the same cloth. 

Suit, To foUow : to follow an example 
already set. A cardpla5dng metaphor. 

Summa sammarum {Lat. the sum of 
sums) : the grand total. [Plautus 
Truculentus 22-7 ; Jno. Jewel, A 
Defefice of the Apologie of the Church 
of England I, ix, 65 (1567)] 

Summer of All Saints, A : a return of 
summer weather about All Saints* 
Day, Nov. i. 

Summer King, The : Amadeus of Spain 
(1845-90), who reigned from Nov., 
1870 to Feb. 1873, when he abdi^ted. 

Snmmum bonum {LeU.) : the highest 
good. [Burton, AncUomy of Melan- 
choly, To the Reader (1621)] 

Sumptuiary Laws : laws directed against 
luxury and extravagance. 

Sun never sets. On which the : (of an 
empire) world-wide. Orig. applied to 
the Span, dominions, now to the 
British. 

Sun, A place in the : see Place in the 
sun. 

Sun, To leave the setting to court the 
rising : to transfer one’s support from 
the present to the future leader. Said 
bv the Emperor Tiberius of the atti- 
tude of the Rom. people towards his 
prospective successor, Caligula. 

Sun, To worship the rising : to give one*s 
support or adhesion to the successful. 

Sunbeams out of cucumbers, To extract ; 
to engage in a foolish and profitless 
business. [Swift, Gulliver* s Travels: 
Voyage to Laputa, ch. 5 (1726)] 

Sunday go-to-meeting clothes : Sunday 
clothes ; best clothes. Properly clothes 
suitable lor attendance at divine 
worship. 

Ehznday l&iut, A : one who observes the 
ordinances of his religion on Sundays, 
but ignores them on other days of the 
week. 

Sundays come together. When : never. 
[Ray, Proverbs {1670)] 

Sundays, A month of : a very long period. 

Sundowner, A : an idler ; a ne'er-do- 
well. One who makes it a custom of 
applying for work in the evening (at 
sundown) when the working day is 



Sunnite] 333 

ended and thus makes himself practic- 
ally assured of a meal and accommoda- 
tion for nothing. 

Sunnite, A : a member of one of the two 
great divisions of Mohammedanism, 
that which accepts the Sunna, a 
collection of laws and precepts, as a 
supplement to the Koran. 

Sunset of one’s days. The : the conclud- 
ing period of one’s life. [Chapman, 
Monsieur d* Olive, IV, i (1606)] 

Sunset Land : the state of Arizona. In 
allusion to its magnificent sunsets. 

Sup, A bit and : see Bit. 

Superba, La {Ital., the superb) : Genoa. 

On account of its beautiful situation. 

Superman, A : an ideal superior man 
conceived by F. W. Nietzsche (1844- 
1900), Germ, philosopher, as being 
evolved from the normal human type. 

Superfine Keview, The : the Saturday 
Review, So-called by Thackeray in 
The Roundabout Papers (1861-2). 

Supped all one’s porridge, To have : to 
be dead. 

Suppiessio veri, suggestio falsi {Lat .) : 
the suppression of the true (is) a 
suggestion of the false, [Lord Chester- 
field, World, No. 105 (1755)] 

Surat, A : (i) an Anglo-Malay term for a 
compact between two persons of a 
gambling character; (2) anything of 
an inferior description. After Surat 
cotton, of worse quality than that 
from North America. 

Sure card, A : a certainty. [Tkersites 
in Dodsley's Old Plays, I, 363 (1537)] 

Sure as death. As : as certain as anything 
can be. [Spenser, Faerie Queen, I, xi, 

12 (1590)] 

Sore as Demoivre, As : absolutely 
reliable. After Abraham de Moivre, 
F.R.S. (1667-1754), author of The 
Doctrine of Chances, of whom Pope 
said, * Sure as Demoivre, without rule 
or line.’ 

Sure as four and four make eight. As : 

certain. [Wm. Combe, Tour of Dr. 
Syntax, Canto XXV (1812)] 

Sure as a gun. As : absolutely certain. 

In allusion to the superior reliability 
of guns as compared with bows and 
arrows, or to the regular firing of guns 
at stated times. [1655] 

Surface, A Charles : a light-hearted, 
generous, pleasure-loving, extravagant 
young man. After a character in 
Sheridan, School for Scandal (1777). 

Surface, A Joseph : a young hypocrite 
{ibidem) , 


[Swan 

Surgery, The Father of French ; Ambrose 
Pare (1517-90). 

Sursum corda (Lat,, hearts upwards) : 
lift up your hearts. From the Com- 
munion Service of the Eng. church. 

Survival of the fittest. The: phrase 
invented by Herbert Spencer (1820- 
1903), in elucidation of Darwin’s 
theo^ of natural selection. 

Sus Minervam (Lat., a sow (teaching) 
Minerva (the goddess of wisdom) : 
an ignorant person attempting to 
instruct the learned. [Cicero, Acad- 
emica, I, v, 18; Burton, Anatomy 
of Melancholy, To the Reader (1621)] 

Suum cuique (Lat., to each his own) : 
[Cicero, De Finibus, V, xxiii, 67 ; 
Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, I, ii 
(1591)] The phrase was adopted by 
Frederick I in 1701 as the motto of 
the kingdom of Prussia. 

Swaddler, A : a Protestant. So-called 
by Rom. Catholics. Said to have been 
taken from the text of a sermon 
preached by John Cennick (1718-55), 
at which a Rom. Catholic happened 
to be present. Also a Rom. Catholic 
who turns Protestant temporarily in 
order to obtain doles of clothing, 
blankets, etc. 

Swaddling-clothes, Not to he out of : to 
behave childishly. [Lyly, Gallattea, 
III, i (1592)] 

Swallow gudgeons ere they are caught. 
To: see Gudgeon. [Butler, Hudibras, 
Pt. II, canto iii, 923 (1663)] 

Swallow-tails : a dress coat. After the 
fancied resemblance to the tail of a 
swallow. 

Swan of Avon, The : Shakespeare, who 
lived at Stratford-on-Avon. So-called 
by Ben Jonson. According to the 
Pythagorean system poets at death 
were metamorphosed into swans. 

Swan, A black : a great rarity. [Juvenal 
Satires, VI, xvi, 4 (ist cent.) ; 
Gosson, Schoole of Abuse (1579)] 

Swan of Cambray, The: Francois de 
Salignac de la Mothe F6nelon (1651- 
1715), man of letters and Archbp. of 
Cambrai. 

Swan of Lichfield, The : Anna Seward 
(1747-1809), Eng, poetess and writeri 

Swan of Mantua, The : Virgil (70-29 
B.C.), who was bom at Mantua. 

Swan of Meander, The : Homer, who 
lived on the banks of the Meander. 

Swan of Padua, The : Francesco 
Algarotti (1712-64), Ital. man of 
letters. 



Swan] 


334 


CSwiM 


Swan of the Thames. The: John Taylor 
(1380-1654), the water poet 
Smns, AU one’s geese are: one 
exaggerates the virtues of one's own 
property or productions. 

Smna, A goose among : an ill-favoumd 
person in the midst of beautiful 
ones. 

Swansong^ A : the last work of a jioet 
or musician, or other ^lewell perform- 
ance. In allusion to the song popularly 
believed to be sung by the swan when 
dying. [Martial, Epigrams, XIII, 77 : 
Shalffispeare, Merchant of Venice, 
III, ii, 44-5 (1595U ^ 

Swap horses when erosaing a stream. To : 
to change one's instruments while in 
the midst of a difficult task. Abraham 
Lincoln (1809-65), on being re- 
nominated for the office of Pres, of the 
U.S., said ' I am reminded of the story 
of an old Dnt(ffi fanner who remarked 
that it was not best to swap horses 
when crossing a stream.* (June 9, 
1864). 

Swashbaolder. A: a bully. Properly. 
<me who swashes or mal^ a noise on 
a buckler. [PUkington, Works (15 60)] 
Sway and say. To hare great : to possess 
great influence. [Scott, Eob Roy 
(1818)] 

Swear hbck is whiter To : to commit 
perjury without h^tation. 

Swear like a lord. To : [Elyot, Cover- 
nour (1531)] 

Swear Ska a trooper in Xlanders. To : in 
allusion to the habits acquired by the 
Bug. troops in Flanders in the 16th 
cent. [Richardson. Pamela Q[ 74 *)l 
Sweat of one’s brow. To Hve hy ue : to 
earn one's living by hard work. 
[Genesis iii, 19; Gosson Schools of 
Abuse (1579)] 

Sweat coin. To : to remove a portion or 
the metal of a coin without affecting 
its appearance or its value as currency. 
Swedenborgilui. A : a follower of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, Swed. philoso- 
pher and theosophist and founder of 
the New Church. 

Swedish Righfi&galei The : Jenny Lmd 
(1820-87), vocalist. 

Sweep the board. To : to carry every- 
thing before one; to secure a thorough 
success. Oiig. a gaming phrase. 
[Singer, History of Cards, 546 T1680)] 
Sw^p the debb To; to win all the 
stakes. From deck ss a pack of cards. 
Sweep, To make a dean: to remove 
entirely ; to make a complete change. 


Sweet on .. To be : tobeinlove with .. 
[Rchard, Plautus {1694)3 

Sweet as hartshorn. As : spirit of harts- 
horn was employed in &e z8th cent, 
as a protection against fainting. 
[Fielding, The Miser, II, iii (1733)] 

Sweet as honey. As : [Fisher (1508)] 

Sweet Singer of Israel. A : King David, 
reputed author of the Psamas. [II 
Samuel, xxiii, i] 

Sweet tooth. To hare a : see Tooth. 

Sweet with the sonr. To take the : to 
take philosophically the good and the 
evil in life. 

Sweet win. At one’s own : in accordance 
with one's own wishes. [Wordsworth, 
Sonnet to Westminster Bridge, 12 
(1802)3 

Sweetness and light; 'a harmcmioua 
perfection, a perfection in which the 
characters of beauty and intelligence 
are both present, wldch unites the two 
noblest of things .. sweetness and 
light.* [Matthew Arnold, C^tUure and 
Anarchy (2869)] Arnold acquired the 
phrase, with acknowledgments, from 
Swift [Battle of the Books (1704)] but 
it had been used centuries earlier by 
Philo Judaeus. 

Swell mob. The: the class of well- 
dressed criminals. After 'swell,' a 
well-dressed man. So-called generally 
by one lower in social rank. 

Swell mobsman. A : a well-dressed pick- 
pocket. 

Swelled head: excessive self-conceit. 

Swift aa a padding can creep. As : very 
slowly. [Rob. Aroim, A Nest of 
Ninnies (1608)] 

Swift aa fhe wind. As : [Spenser, Faerie 
Queen, V, vi, 7 (1590)] 

Swim. la the : of a member of a coterie 
or clique, the members of which 
support one another to theit mutual 
advantage. Said to be derived from 
the habit of river fish of swimming 
in shoals. 

Swim withont ooodc, To : to proceed on 
one's career unaided. 

Swim against fhe stream. To : to oppose 

f revailing influences. [Juvenal, 

aiires, IV, 89-91 ; Lyly, Endimion 
III, V (1584)] 

Swim with fhe stream. To : see Stream. 
Swim. To teaeh iron to : see Teach. 

Swim between two waters. To : to pur- 
sue a middle course. From a Fr. 
proverb. 

Sms AdmirA A : a pretender to naval 
rank. Switzerland has no navy. 



Swiiierkhiid] 335 [Talrala 


Svdtzeiland of America, The: West 
Virginia. 

Swollen head. To so^ei from: to be 
conceited. 

Sword and Cloak plays : comedies in 
which the characters wear swords and 
cloaks, as compared with plays of an 
earlier or later costume period. 

Sword of Damocles : see Damocles. 

Sword, A Delphic: see Delphic. 

Sword of God, The : Khaled (582-642 c.), 
Saracen conqueror. So-called on 
account of his prowess at the Battle 
of Muta. 

Sword, To put to the : to kill. 

Sword of Rome, The: Marcellus (c. 
270-208 B.C.), Rom. general. 

Sword and throw away the scabbard, To 
draw the : to determine to carry 
through, at no matter what cost, the 
task that one has undertaken. 

Sword, A two-edged : see Two-edged. 

Sworn brokers : friends sworn to share 
one another*s fortune. Orig. brothers- 
in-arms. 

Sybarite, A : a slave to luxury and 
pleasure. After Sybaris in S. Italy, 
whose inhabitants were noted for 
addiction to luxury and pleasure. 

Symphony, The Father of: Francis 
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). 

Synoptic Gospels, The : Matthew, Mark 
and Luke, which present a sunopsis 
(Grk.) or general conspectus. 

Syphilis : venereal disease. After 

Syphilis, a shepherd, in a Lat. poem, 
Syphilus sive Morbus Gallicus (1530) 
by Girolamo Fracastoro. 

Syren, A : see Siren. 

Syren of Antiquity, The: Xenophon 
(c. 420-357 B.C.), Grk. historian and 
narrator of the exploits of the 10,000 
Greeks who retreated to the Black 
Sea. So-called by the Duke of Urbino, 

Syrens of the ditch : frogs. So-called by 
Tasso. 

Syren’s song, A : see Siren’s song. 


T, To a : exactly. Apparently a con- 
traction of ‘ To a tittle,* the smallest 
possible amount or fraction. 
[Farquhar, Love and a BoUle (1698)] 
T, Hs^ed with a : branded zs a 
cidminal. In allusion to the medieval 
practice of branding the thumbs of 
criminals admitted to beneht of 
clergy with a T (thief). 

T.D. pipe, A : a cheap day pipe. After 
Timothy Dexter (b. i793h a- wealthy 


Amer. eccentric, who bequeathed a 
large sum of money for the manufac- 
ture of such pipes. 

T’s and dot the i^s. To cross the : to be 
meticulously exact ; to emphasize the 
details. 

T.G., A: a temporary gentleman. A 
colloquial term used in the army for 
temporary officers in the British 
Armies raised during the European 
War of 1914-18. 

Tah, An old : an old maid. From the 
tabby or cat generally made a com- 
panion of by an old maid. 

Tabaider, A : a foundation scholar at 
Queen's Coll., Oxford. After the 
tabard or tunic worn by them, 

Taharin, To he a : to act like a down. 
After Tabarin, the witty assistant of 
Mondor, a vendor of quack medidnes 
in the reign of Charles IX of France. 

Tabby, A: a cat. In allusion to the 
brindled colour frequently met with 
in cats similar to that of tabby silk ; 
also a kind of silk. From Utabi, a 
district of Baghdad, where it was made. 

Tabernacle, A : (i) the figurative doth- 
ing of the principles of a political 
party ; properly ttie movable temple 
or place of worship of the Israelites in 
the wilderness; (2) nonconformity, 
so-called by members of the Church 
of England. After the Tabernade in 
Moorfields, the original meetiag place 
of the Wesleyan Methodists. 

Table d’Hotc, A {Fr,, table of the host] : 
a meal provided at a restaurant 
according to the selection of the 
. proprietor. 

Table, To lay on the: to postpone 
indefinitely. A parliamentary meta- 
phor. 

Table in a roar, To set the : to cause 
the company at table to laugh heartily. 
[Garrick’s epitaph on James Quin in 
Bath Abbey Church (1766)] 

Tables on . . To tom the : to make a 
counter attack on . . or bring a punter 
charge against . . [T. Shipman, 

Henry III of France (1678)] 

Table-money: money appropriated for 
the expenses of the table. 

Table-talk; the sodal conversation of 
distinguished men preserved in literary 
form. Orig. conversation at meals. 

Taboo, To be : to be forbidden, consecrated 
to a special (religious) use. Tongan. 

Tabula rasa, A {LaS., an erased tablet) : 
a dean slate. [Wotton, Letters, VoL 
II {1607)] 



Tack] 336 [Talk 


Tack, On the wrong: in the wrong 
direction. A navad metaphor. 

Tadpoles and Tapers, The : professional 
politicians. iQter two characters in 
B. Disraeli, Ccnuigshy {1844). 

Taffeta phrases : bombastic, flowe^ 
language. From taffeta, a silk fabric. 
After Utabi, a district of Baghdad, 
where it used to be made. [Shakes- 
peare, Love’s Labour Lost, V, ii, 406 
(1588)] 

Taffy, A : a Welshman. Corruption of 
David, the patron saint of Wales and 
a name frequently met with among 
Welshmen. [Harrison, Description of 
Englayid (i577)] 

Tag, Rag and Bobtail, The : the common 
people. Tag, rag and bobtail orig. 
indicated different breeds of dogs. 
[Spenser, State of Ireland (1633)] 

Tail between one’s legs, With one’s : 
dejected and suppressed. As a dog 
in such a condition. 

Tail, To hold the serpent by the : see 
Hold. 

Tail, To turn : to run away. A falconry 
metaphor. [Interlude of Youth, 1. 393 

(1554)] 

Tail twisting : see Lion’s tail. To twist the. 

Tailor’s heh, A : the place in which a 
tailor deposits the pieces of cloth, etc., 
which he treats as perquisites. 

Tailor’s sword (dagger), A : a needle. 
[Peter Pindar, Great Cry and Little 
Wool (1794)] 

Tailors of Tooley Street, The three : the 
apocryphal tailors who are said to 
have presented a petition to parlia- 
ment, commencing, * We, the people 
of England.’ They were quoted by 
George Canning. 

Take down a person, To : to humiliate ; 
to rebuke. [Child-marriages (1562)] 

Take in a person. To : to trick. [Hy. 
Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling, ch. 

25 (1771)] 

Take off a person. To : to caricature. 
[Lyly, Endimion, II, ii (1591) ; Lord 
Chesterfield, Letters {1750)] 

Take the bull by the horns. To : to face 
a difficulty resolutely. From an 
ancient Grk. proverb. 

Take a hair to draw a waggon, To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Take a hammer to spread a plaster. To ; 
to act foolishly. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Take one’s life in one’s hand. To : 

deliberately to run considerable risks. 


T^e lying down. To : to suffer passively ; 
like a party to a fight who when 
knocked down refuses to rise in order 
to continue the fight. The phrase 
was derived from a passage in The 
Conversion of Colonel Quagg by G. A. 
Sala which appeared orig. in Household 
Words, and was reprinted in a volume 
of Papers Hiimorous and Pathetic in 
1872. 

Take oil to extinguish the fire. To : to 
act foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. [Lyly, Euphues : A natomy 
of Wit (1579)] 

Take a post to kill a bee. To : to act 
foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Take the ribbons. To : see Ribbons. 

Tsdee a spear to kill a fly. To : to act 
foolishly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Take the spring from the year. To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an andent Grk. proverb. 

Take a town by starving it. To : to take 
advantage of a man’s wants. From 
a Span, proverb supposed to be derived 
from a stratagem employed by Louis 
XIV to recruit his army. 

Take by storm, To : generally of a 
speaker, actor, etc., to carry away an 
audience by the excellence or apparent 
excellence of his performance. A 
military metaphor. 

Take a person at his word. To : to rely 
on what a person says. 

Taking, To be in a : to be in trouble, in 
distress. [Chapman, Blinde Beggar 
of Alexandria (1598)] 

Tale of the man in the moon, A : a 
wildly improbable story. [Lilly, 
Endimion, the Man in the Moone, 
Prologue (1591)] 

Tale of a roasted horse, A : an invented 
story. [Marriage of Wit and Science, 
IV, i (1570)] 

Tale of a Tub, A : see Tub. 

Tales out of school. To tell : to romance ; 
to betray confidences (in a minor 
degree). [Tyndale (i6th cent.) ; Hey- 
wood, Proverbes (1546)] 

Talents, All the : see All the Talents. 

Talk big. To : to boast. [Tibullus, II, 
vi, 9-12 ; Lyly, Campaspe, V, iii 
(1584) ; Earle, Microcosmography, IV 

(1633)] 

Talk through one’s hat. To : to speak 
irresponsibly, seeking to force one’s 
argument without any facts behind 
one. 



Talk] 337 

Talk shop. To : to talk about one*s 
business or profession in social 
gatherings. 

Talk turkey to . . To : to say pleasant 
things to . . 

Talking Mill (Shop), The : (contemptu- 
ously) the House of Commons. 

Tall talk : boastful language. 

Tamherlain, As cruel as : in allusion to 
Timur Tamerlane (1336-1405), Tartar 
conqueror, as depicted in Marlowe, 
Tamburlaine the Create (1587)] 

Tammany ; Tammany Hall : a strong 
political organization in New York 
City which forms a part of the Demo- 
cratic Party, notorious for its corrup- 
tion and its power. It grew out of the 
Tammany Society, a charitable and 
political organization founded in 1805, 
which derived its name from Taman- 
end, that of a chief of the Delaware 
nation of the 17th cent. 

Tammany Ring : a group of New York 
officials belonging to the Democratic 
Party who were punished for corrup- 
tion in 1871. See Tammany. 

Tamson, John : see John Thomson's man. 

Tansy, Like a : in proper manner. The 
tansy is (i) a medicinal plant ; (2) a 
sort of custard. 

Tantalize, To : to teaze or torment. 
After Tantalus, a mythical king of 
Lydia, who was condemned to per- 
petual thirst while almost within reach 
of water to which he could never 
attain. 

Tantalus, A : a set of spirit decanters, 
visible but locked in a case. See 
Tantalize. 

Tapers and Tadpoles : see Tadpoles. 

Tapis, On the : under, or about to be 
under, discussion. Lit., on the (Fr.) 
tapestry or green baize (of the council 
table). 

Tapley, A Mark : an incurable optimist, 
cheerful in all circumstances. After a 
character in Dickens, Martin Chuzzle- 
wit (1843). 

Tar ; Tar, Jack : a sailor. From 
ta^aulins frequently in use on board 
ship. [Wycherley, Plain Dealer , II, i 
(1676)] 

Tar-brush, A knight of the : a sailor. 

In allusion to the use of tar aboard 
ship. 

Tarheel, A : an inhabitant of South 
Carolina. From tar, one of the 
principal products of the state. 

Tarred with the same brush. To be : to 
be equally to blame. From the 


[Teach 

former practice of marking sheep with 
tar. 

Tartar, To catch a : to be in the power of 
one's supposed prisoner. In allusion 
to the story of an Irish soldier who 
claimed to have taken a Tartar 
opponent prisoner, but explained that 
his captive would not permit himself 
to be taken to the camp, nor would 
he permit him to return himself. 
[Defoe, Captain Singleton, ch. 16 
(1720)] 

Tartarean ; Tartarian : infernal. After 
Tartarus, the infernal regions, in Grk. 
mythology. 

Tartuffe A : a hypocrite. After the 
hero of Molifere’s play of that name. 

Tartufish : hypocritical. See Tartuffe. 

Tatters, To tear a passion to : to overdo 
a pretended rage. [Shakespeare, 
Hamlet, III, ii (1602-3)] 

Tattoo, The Devil’s : a monotonous 
drumming with a finger or a foot, 
tending to cause the blue devils. 

Tattooed Man, The : James Gillespie 
Blaine (1830-93), Amer. statesman. 
After a caricature of him in Puck 
(1884), depicted as Phr3me before her 
judges, tattooed with the names of the 
various scandals with which he had 
been connected. 

Tau, Maiked with a : marked with a 
cross. Fro'm the Grk. letter Y. 

Tavern of Europe, The ; Paris. So-called 
by Prince Bismarck. 

Tawdry : cheap and showy. After St. 
Audrey or St. Ethelreda, at whose fair 
in the Isle of Ely tawdry articles were 
sold. 

Tawny Tribe, The : gypsies. In allusion 
to their complexion. 

Te Deum, A : a hymn or service of 
praise and thanks. From the opening 
words of a Lat. hymn, Te Deum 
laudamus, We praise Thee, O Lord. 

Teach a bull to roar. To : to act un- 
necessarily. From an ancient Grk. 

proverb. 

Teach a cock to crow. To : to act un- 
necessarily. From an ancient Grk. 

proverb. 

Teach a dog to bark. To : to act un- 
necessarily. From an ancient Grk. 

proverb. 

Teach a fish to bite. To : to act un- 
necessarily. From an ancient Grk. 

proverb. 

Teach a hen to chuck. To : to act un- 
necessarily. From an ancient Grk. 

proverb. 


z 



Teadi] 338 

Teach iron to swim. To : to act foolishly 
and to no purpose. From an ancient 
Grk. proverb. 

Teach an old woman to dance. To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Teach a pig to play on a flnte. To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Teach a serpent to hiss. To : to act un- 
necessarily. Froni an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Teacher of Germany, The: Philip 
Melanchthon (1497-1560). 

Tea-cup, A storm in a : Storm. 

Teague, A : an Irishman. After the 
former popularity of the word as an 
Irish name. 

Teanlay Night : the vigil of All Souls, or 
the last night in October. 

Tear a oat. To : to rant, esp. on the 
theatrical stage. Apparently^ from 
the exploit of one who once desired to 
attract attention. [Shakespeare, Mid^ 
summer Night* s Dream I, ii (1590)] 

Tear Christ's body. To : to utter oaths. 

In allusion to the mdieval oaths in 
which parts of Christ's body were 
mentioned. 

Tear a passion to rags and tatters, To : 

see Tatters. 

Tears of Eos : morning dewdrops. So- 
called by the Greelm. Eos was the 
mother of Memnon, who was killed in 
the defence of Troy. 

Tears, St. Lawrence's : see St. Lawrence. 

Teoton Brook, As crooked as : in allusion 
to a brook in Northamptonshire 
famous for its windings. 

Teaos, In one’s : between the aiges of 
twelve and twen'ty, i.«., thirteen to 
nineteen. [The Spectator t No. 31 1 
{1712)] 

Teeth of . . In the : in opposition to . . 
in defiance of [Fielding, Voyage 
to Lisbon, July 25, 1754] 

Teeth, To c^ in the : to reproach with. . 
[Lyly, Euphues : Anatomy of Wit 
^ 579 )] 

Teeth of . . To draw the : see Draw, 

Teeth outwards. From the : insincerely ; 
empty talk. [Rob. Wilson, Three 
Ladies of London ^ II, 1244-5 (1584)] 

Teeth, By the skin of one’s : see Skin. 

Teeth, Li spite of one's : in defiance of . . 
[Skelton, Colyn Chute, 939 (c. 1500) ; 
Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, 

V. iv (1598-9)] 

Teetotaler, A : a total abstainer from 
alcoholic drink The word was in- 


[T«i 

vented about 1833 by Rich. Turner 
(1790-1846), a temperance advocate, 
who, as a means of emphasis or in 
consequence of a stammer, duplicated 
the initial letter in the phrase, * total 
abstinence.’ According to another 
derivation the Hector, New York, 
Temperance Society, introduced in 
J anuary, 1827, a second form of pledge 
in addition to that hitherto in force. 
The old pledge was then known as 
O.P. (Old Pledge) and the new as T. 
(Total). The many explanations 
required of the latter sjmibol led 
ultimately to the incorporation into 
the language of T-Total, or Teetotal. 
Teian Muse, The: Anacreon (550-465 
B.C.), who was bom in Teos, Asia 
Minor. 

Temper the wind to the i^om lamb, To ; 
to afford some assistance or protection 
to the weak. [Laurence Sterne, Senti- 
mental Journey (1768)] 

Tempest in a teapot, A : see Storm in 
a teacup. 

Templar; Templar, Enight, A: a 
member of a military order of Imight- 
hood founded m Palestine in 1118, 
with its headquarters on the site of the 
Temple. The order was suppressed in 
13^2. 

Templar, To drink like a : to drink 
copiously. * Templar ’ is a corruption 
of ' Temprier * (O.F.), glass-blower. 
The work of glass blowing encourages 
drinking. 

Tempoia, 0 mores ! 0 {Lai.) ; Alas for 
the times, alas for the morals ! 
[Cicero, CaMlina, I, i, 2] 

Tempoia mutantur {Lat., times change) : 
[Greene, Groat* s-worth of Wit (1592)] 
The phrase has been attributed to the 
Emperor Lothair (c. 830). 

Temporal, Lords : the members of the 
House of Lords apart from the bishops 
or spiritual peers. 

Tempns fngit (Lai., time flies; : [Virgil, 
Georgies, III, 284] 

Ten, !]&e Connoil of : the secret tribunal 
which exercised unrestrained power in 
the Rep. of Venice. It was abolished 
in 1797. 

Ten in Handled, Old : a usurer ; one 
who demands ten per cent. [Death 
of Usury (1594)] 

Ten hBnates’ Bill, A : a bill introduced 
into parliament under the Ten 
Minutes' Rule, whereby only two short 
speeches are permitted, one in favour 
and the other against. 



Ten] 339 

Ten Thousand, O^ie Retreat of the : the 
retreat in 401 B.C. of the Grk. 
auxiliaries who had assisted Cyrus in 
his revolt against his brother, Ar- 
taxerxes. Their campaign had been 
successful, but resolving to return to 
Greece, under the leadership of 
Xenophon, they marched 3,645 miles 
across very difl&cult countiy in 215 
days. 

Tender passion. The : Love. 

Tender years : youth. [Ovid, Heroides : 
Phaedra H^ppolyto, 1 . 25] 

Tenderfoot, A : an inexperienced person. 
Orig. in use in the newly settled 
western districts of the U.S. 

Tenderloin : the part of a city in which 
most of the theatres and other places 
of entertainment are grouped. After 
that district of New York which is 
known as the Tenderloin District. 
The word means literally the tenderest 
or most juicy part of a loin of beef or 
other meat, and is supposed to have 
reference to the considerable amount 
of bribery accepted by the police of 
New York for the protection of law- 
breakers in that district. 

Tendon, Achilles^ : the tendon which 
connects the heel with the calf. That 
in which, according to mythology, 
Achilles was mortally wounded. 

Teniers of Comedy, The : Florent Carton 
Dancourt (1661-1726). After David 
Teniers, (1610-90), Flem. artist. 

Teniers, The ^glish : George Morland 
(1763-1804). 

Teniers, The Scotch : Sir David Wilkie 
(1785-1841). 

Tennis Ball of Fortune, The ; Pertinax 
(126-193), Rom. emperor, who was 
successively a seller of charcoal, 
schoolmaster, soldier and emperor. 
After a reign of three months he was 
deposed and murdered. 

Tenor’s farewell, A : a farewell destined 
to be often repeated. In allusion to 
the practice of vocalists of giving 
more than one farewell recital or 
appearance. 

Tenterhooks, To be on : to have one's 
expectation stretched. The tenter- 
hooks were the hooks on which cloth 
was stretched after it had been 
woven, [Heywood, Fair Maid (1607)] 

Tenth Legion, The : the submerged 
Tenth (q.v.). 

Tenth Muse, The : Madame Antoinette 
du Ligier de la Garde Deshouliferes 
(c. 1635-94), Ff. poetess. 


[Terza 

Tentmaker, The Great : Omar Khayydm 
(d. 1 123), Persian poet, philosopher and 
epigrammatist. Persian, Khayyam, 
tent-m?ker ; probably the occupation 
of his father. 

Tents, oh Israel I To your : the signal 
for a revolt. [I Kings, xii, 16] 

Terence of England. The: Richard 
Cumberland (1732-1811). Sc-called 
by Oliver Goldsmith. After Terence 
(b. 185 B.C.), Lat. dramatist. 

Termagant, A : a shrew ; a quarrelsome, 
nagging woman. After Tervagant, 
the Moslem demon in the moi^ity 
plays ; more remotely after Diana 
' Trivia, a goddess of the Scythians. 

I Terminological inexactitude, A: a 
euphemism for a falsehood. Term 
invented by Mr. Winston Churchill 
in a debate in the House of Com- 
mons. 

Term-trotter, A: one who attends the 
I Law Courts for the term. 

Terpsiohorean : relating to dancing. 

I After Terpsichore, the Muse of the 
I choral song and dance. 

I Terra firma : the dry land ; more esp. 

the Ital. mainland formerly subject 
1 to Venice, and the coast of America, 

I between Paria and Costa Rica. 

Terra incognita (Lot., an unknown land). 

I Terrestial Sun, The: gold, which in 
alchemy corresponded to the sun. 

I Terrible Comet of Horse» The: see 
Comet of Horse. 

. Terror, The : see Reign of Terror. 

* Terror of the World, The : Attila (406- 
53), King of the Huns. 

I Terrorists : agitators in a time of 
political disturbance who by their 
threats and action terrify citizens and 
satisfy their desires at their expense. 
Also anarchists and other advocates 
of violence who seek to terrify the 
government into acquiescence in their 
demands. In the Fr. Rev. of 1848 the 
extreme party seized the Hotel de 
Ville and attempted unsuccessfully to 
overpower the National Assembly. 

Tertinm quid, A [Lot,, some third thing) : 
a third course, person, object, etc. 
The term is attributed to Pythagoras. 
\Theairum Chenacum (1613)] 

Terfeius gaudens {Lot,, a third, rejoicing) : 
a third party who derives benefit from 
the disputes of two others. 

Terza lima : a form of verse in which 
the second lines always rhyme with 
the first and third lines of the succeed- 
ing triplet. 



Tesseraiian] 34 ^ 

Tess 6 iaxi& 3 i Art, The {Lai,, iessera, a 
die) : gambling. 

T€te k t6te [Fr., head to head) : a private 
conversation between two people. 
[Vanbrugh and Cibber, The Provoked 
Husband, III, i (1728)] 

Tether, To come to (reach) the end of 
one’s : to come to the end of one’s 
resources. A grazing metaphor. 

Tetragrammaton, The: the 

four letters that denote and also 
conceal the name of the Deity. 

TesEas, Gone to : decamped. 

Thales, A : a renowned philosopher and 
scientist. After Thales of Miletus 
(640-546 B.C.), the founder of Grk. 
geometry, a.stronomy and philosophy. 

Thames a&e. To set the : to display 
great energy. * Thames ’ is a corrup- 
tion of * temse,' a sieve. A sifter 
would have to exercise very great 
energy before the friction he caused 
set fire to the sieve. [Langland, 
Piers Plowman, VII, 335 (1363)] 

Thames, To oast water in the : to under- 
take a useless work. [Heywood, 
Proverbes, (154^)] 

Thank one’s s&rs, To : to be grateful. 

An astrological metaphor. 

Thanksgiving Day : in the U.S., the 
fourth Thursday in November, a day 
set apart for the expression of gratitude 
to God. 

Thatched head, A : one who wore the 
haAr matted, like the native Irish in 
earlier times. [Beaumont and 
Fletcher, Coxcomb, II (1612)] 

Theban Bard (Ea^), The : Pindar 
(c. 522-443 B.C.), who was bonf near 
Thebes and lived there. 

Thelnsson Act The : the 39th and 40th 
of George III, cap. 98, which forbids 
the accumulation of a legacy of a 
testator for more than twenty-one 
years. After a Mr. Thelusson who 
provided for the accumulation of his 
estate after his death until it would 
have amounted to nineteen million 
pounds. 

Themis : law ; .justice. After the Grk. 
goddess of law and justice. 

Theocritus, The Scottish : Allan Ramsay 
(1685-1758). After Theocritus of 
Syracuse (fl. 280 B.C.) who was 
celebrated for his idylls. 

Theoditns, The Sicilian : Giovanni Meli 
of Palermo (1740-1815). 

Theon’s tooth : ill-natured cricitism. 
After Theon, a spiteful Rom. gra-m- 
rnarian. [Horace, Epistles, I, xviii, 82] 


[Thi(& 

Thermidorians : the moderate party in 
the Fr. Revol. who approved of the 
overthrow of Robespierre on the 9th 
of Thermidor, 1794. 

Thermopylae, A : a pass which serves as 
the means of entrance for an invading 
army. After Thermopylae, where 
Leonidas and his Greeks withstood the 
Persian invasion in 480 B.C. 

Theisites, A : an ill-tempered critic of 
the authorized powers. After Ther- 
sites, an officer in the Grk. army 
which besieged Troy. 

Theseus, A : a Hercules. After Theseus, 
the Hercules of lonian-Attic fable. 

Theseus, The Christian : Roland, the 
Paladin. 

Theseus and Fiiifhous : a pair of 
devoted friends. After Theseus, the 
great hero of Attic legend, and 
Pirithous, King of the Lapiths. 

Thespian : (i) tragic, dramatic ; (2) an 
actor. After Thespis (fl. 535 B.C.), 
the founder of the Grk. drama. 

Thespian Maids, The : the Muses. ALfter 
Thespiae, a centre of their worship. 

Thespian rage* A : an assumed, pre- 
tended rage. See Thespian. 

Thespis, A Son of : a tragic poet. See 
Thespian. 

Thessalian : deceitful. In allusion to 
the proverbial treachery of the Thes- 
ssJians. 

Thestylis, A : a country maid. After 
a character in The Idylls of Theo- 
critos. 

Theta on . . To put the letter : to con- 
demn to death. From the ancient 
Grk. practice of marking the ballot 
used in voting for a death sentence with 
the letter theta, the initial of d&varoe^ 
death. 

Thetis, In the lap of : in the sea. After 
Thetis, one of the Nereids or sea- 
nymphs. [Verses at Time of Execu- 
tion of Lord Strafford (1650)] 

Thick of . . To be in the : to be in the 
midst of . - ; in the most active part 
of an action or event. [Flavel, 
Method of Grace, X, 214 (1681)] 

Thick with . . To be : to be very friendly 

, with 

Thick as ha.il, As : in rapid succession ; 
very thick. [Chaucer, The Legende 
of Goode Women, I, 76 (14th cent.)] 

Thick as herrings. As : in allusion to the 
shoals of herrings familiar on the Eng. 
coasts. [Peter Pindar, Sitbjects for 
Painters : The Soldier and the Virgin 
Mary (1795)] 



!Ehiek] 341 [Thread 


Thlob as hops* As : very plentiful and 
Goznp^. [Taylor, Worhes (1630)] 

Thidk; To lay it on : to act or speak with 
excessive earnestness, energy, vehe- 
mence or exaggeration. 

Tbiok-skumed ; impervious to ordina^ 
insults or o0ence. IHisirio-masHx, 
III, i, 189-90 (1610)] 

Thicikasthievest As : as dose together in 
confidence as confederates in ciiine. 
[Theodore Hook, Parson*s Daughter, 

II. ii (1833)] 

Thick and thin, Through: despite all 
obstades ; in any circumstances. 
[Chaucer, Peeve^s Tale (1386) ; Kyng 
and Hermyt (1380]] 

Thick and Uizeefold : in large numbers 
and in quick succession. [Hall, 
Chronicle of Henry VIII, 186 (1548)] 

Thieves' Laiia : the cant Iwguage used 
by thieves and other members of the 
lowest class. 

Thievish as a daw, As : from the repu- 
tation for stealing which has been 
acquired by the race of magpies. 
[O^d, Metamorphoses, Bk, VII, 466-7] 

ISilmhleiigging : cheating. In allusion 
to the trick of swindling by means of 
three small cups or thimbles and a pea. 
Thin Bed Line, The: the Argyll and 
Sutherland (formerly 93rd) High- 
landers. So-called by Sir W. H. 
Russdl from the colour of their uni- 
forms and their formation at tiie 
Battle of Baladava. [A Hist, of the 
War in the Crimea {1863-77)] 

Thin-skinned : sensitive in the extreme. 

Thing or iwo^ To know a : to be mentally 
alert. 

Thinldug cap. To put on the : to take 
leisure for consideration. 

Third Estate, The : the Commons. 

Third Houses The : the lobby, the other 
two being the Amer. Senate and the 
House ox Representatives. 

Third Section, The: the Russ, secret 
political police, formed by Nidiolas I 
in 1865. 

ThirteenpeQoe"halft6nny,A: a hangman. 
In allusion to the fee paid at the 
beginning of the iTih cent, for execu- 
tions. 

Thirteen States, The : the thirteen 
colonies that combined to form the 
U.S. of America, viz., Connecticut, 
Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, l^fossa- 
chusetts. New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
New York, North Carol^, Pennsyl- 
vania, Rhode Island, South Caiol&La 
and Virginia. 


Thirteen, To strike: to exceed the 
normal by one point. 

Thirteenth iuiyman. The : a judge who 
displays bias. 

Thirty to the doaeu. To talk : to talk 
very rapidly and not too intelligently. 
Related to the thirteen in a baker's 
dozen and in a publisher's dozen. 

Thirty-nine Artioles, The : the Articles 
of Faith of the Church of England. 
Orig. 42, but reduced to 39 in 1563. 

Thirty-pound Knights : the knights 
created by James I for payment, the 
rumoured price being as low as £30. 

Thirty Tears' War, The: the war 
between the Catholics of Germany 
under the Emp. Ferdinand II and the 
Prot. princes, whidi lasted from 1618 
to r648. 

Thistle, The Order of the : the piindp^ 
Scot, order of knighthood, founded in 
809. 

Thomas, A : a footman ; a waiter. 

Thomas (Tonizny) Atkins ; Tontmy, A : 
a Brit, private soldier. Two deriva- 
tions are given for this term. According 
to the one, the name was selected, 
probably haphazard, as a specimen in 
some directions for famishing a return 
of particulars relating to the individual 
soldiers of the Brit. Army. According 
to the other, the name was borne by a 
private soldier who distinguished 
himself for bravery and devotion to 
duty in the course of the rebellion at 
Lucknow in 1857. The term thus 
came to be used for a brave soldier, 
and subsequently for any soldier of 
tBe Brit. Army. 

Thomasing: (1) the practice of collecting 
money to be spent on Christmas 
festivities on St. Thomas' Day (Dec. 
21) ; (2) begging. 

Thomadte, A : a Christadelphian. After 
John Thomas, the founder of the 
sect. 

Thorn in the flesh (side), A : a perpetual 
source of annoywoe. 

Thoms, A bed of: see Bed. 

Thorpe’s wife, As busy as : see Throp's 
wife. 

Thiadaa Art; The : riding. 

Thzasonio; Thrasonical .'boastful After 
a chazacter in Terence's comedy, 
Eunuchtts. 

Thread and thrum: the good and the 
bad together. A meinphor drawn 
from weaving. Thrums are the 
weaver's wastage. [Shakespeare, 
Midsummer Night's Dream (i 593 )l 



Xhzeadbare] 


34 « 


^Tbreadliare fidend, A : one who will 
lender no assistance. [Poston Letters, 
No. 435 (1462]] 

Thzee &cr86 and a cow : the agricultural 
policy of the liberal party in 1882, 
viZn, the availability of allotments 
for all agricultural labourers. The 
phrase was coined by Mr. Jesse 
Collings (1831-1920), or by George 
Smith of Coalville (1831-95}- 

Three Ages of Han, The : see Ages. 

muree Ages of a State, The : see Ages of 
a State. 

Three Emperora, The Battle of the: 
Austerlitz (Dec. 2, 1805) in which 
Napoleon, the Emperor and the Czar 
all took part. 

Three Estates of the Bealm, The : the 
peerage, the clergy, the common 
people. 

Tuee Exes, The : the 30th (XXX) 
Regt. of Foot. 

Three Fs, The : the programme of the 
Irish Land League in 1880— Fixity of 
Tenure, Fair Rent, Free Sale. 

Three E’s, The : King, Constitution and 
Church. 

Three 'K’fagai The Alliance of the : the 
alliance of 1849 between Kmgs of 
Prussia, Saxony and Hanover, directed 
towards the preservation of order in 
Germany. 

Three Sings of Cologne, The : see 
Cologne. 

Three Sings’ Day : Epiphany. In 
memory of the visit of the Three 
Kings or Wise I^n of the East to the 
In^t Jesus. 

Three legs, To go on : to walk with the 
help of a stick. [Earl of Dorset, A 
Mirrour for Magistrates (1563)] 

Three pair ha(d^ A : a garret. Presum- 
ably on the third storey at the back 
of the house. 

Three B’s, The : see R's. 

Three sdie^ in the wind : inebriated. A 
nautical metaphor. 

Three Sisters, The : see Sisters. 

miree taEozs of Today Street, The : see 
Tailors. 

Thzee-coznezed constttnenoy. A: a 
parliamentary constitnency returning 
three members, the electors in which 
had two votes only apiece. 

Three-decker, A : a person or object of 
great importance. Properly a three- 
decked or line of battle ship. 

Throp’s wife, As busy as : of a woman 
who is very busy in domestic affairs 
but seems always in a muddle. This 


[Tick 

simile originated in the North of 
England. 

Throw up the sponge, To : to abandon 
the contest. A metaphor drawn from 
the prize-ring. 

THi^htw one’s cap. To : to idle one's time. 
Properly to cover one's cap with 
thrums or pieces of waste thread, etc. 
[Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, 
IV. i (1607)] 

Thamh, Under one’s : under one's 
complete infiuence or control. 
[Samuel Richardson, Gra!:2dison, V, 

56 (1753)] 

Thumb at - . To bite one’s : to insult. 
[Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1 , i 

(1591-3)] 

Thumbs, With one’s fingers all : clumsy. 

Thumbs up ; thumbs down : sentence of 
death; announcement of release. By 
these signs the Rom. emperors used to 
give their decisions of life and death 
after the gladiatorial contests. 

Thnmp-cnmon, A : a preadier given to 
gesticulation. Lit., one who thumps 
the cushion of the pulpit. [Peter 
Pindar, Pindariana: Sea Courtship 

(1794;] 

and Tii gh tiling ; Stephen II of 
Hungary (1100-31). 

Thunder, To steal one’s : see Steal. 

Thunderbolt of Italy, The : Gaston de 
Foix, Due de Nemours (1489-15^2)1 
Fr. soldier who waged a great campaign 
against the Spaniards in Italy. 

Thunderer, The: (i) the JUnes news- 
paper, after a leading article whidh 
opened, ' We thundered forth the 
other day'; (2) Jupiter, in allusion 
to his weapon, the thunderbolt; (3) 
Homer, so-called by Wordsworth. 

Thursdays meet. When: never. 

Thyestean banquet, A : a cannibal feast. 
After the classical story of Thyestes 
and Atrens. 

Thyestean revenge : the law of reprisals. 
See Thyestean banquet. 

Tibb’s Eve^ St..: see Saint Tib’s Eve. 

Tiberius, A : a monster of vice and 
cruelty. After Tiberius (B.C. 42-37 
A.D.), Rom. emperor. 

Tlbulfais, The French : Evariste D^sird 
Duforges (1753-1814). After Albius 
Tibullus (54 to 19 B.C.), Lat. elegiac 
poet. 

Tid^ On: on credit; contraction for 
' on tidtet.' In allusion to the former 
habit of making credit purchases by a 
system of tickets. [Sedley, The Mul- 
berry Gayden (1668]] 



Ticket] 343 [ 2 ?ite 


Ticket, A : a list of candidates put for- 
ward by a caucus or political party. 

Ticket of leave : a warrant releasing a 
prisoner prematurely, subject to his 
good behaviour. 

Tickle the ears of . . To : to amuse or 
please, esp. by means of light talk or 
flattery. [Gosson, Schoole of Abuse 

(1579)] 

Ticklish times : critical times. [Bacon, 
Essayes : Of Seditions and Trotihles 
(1625)] 

Tide of public opinion, To turn the : to 
influence public opinion in a new 
direction. 

Tide-waiter, A : one who votes contrary 
to his own opinion. [Sydney Smith, 
Peter Plymley*s Leiiers, letter V (1808)] 

Tied house, A : a public-house owned or 
otherwise controlled by a firm of 
brewers, from which alone it must 
obtain its beer. 

Tiers Etat : the Commoners or Third 
Estate of the Realm in monarchical 
France. 

Tiger of France, The : Georges Clemen- 
ceau (b. 1841), Prime Minister of 
France. 

Tight hand on . . To keep a : to keep 
close control over.. [Sheridan, The 
Rivals, I, ii (1775I] 

Tight place. To be in a : to be in a 
difflcult situation. 

Tile loose. To have a : to be mentally 
aflSlicted slightly. 

Tilt against windmills. To : to undertake 
an absurd, impossible task. In 
allusion to an episode related of Don 
Quixote in Cervantes* romance of that 
title. 

Time, To do (serve) : to undergo im- 
prisonment. 

Time by the forelock. To take : to seize 
the opportunity as soon as it offers. 
Time is traditionally depicted as an 
old man with a solitary lock of hair in 
front. [Spenser, Amoretti, LXX, 7-8 

(1595)] 

Xime on one’s hands. To have : to be 

unemployed. 

Time, To kill : to idle ; to perform some 
useless occupation merely to avoid 
ennui. 

Time out of mind : on numerous 
occasions. [Shakespe^e, Romeo and 
Juliet, I, iv, 67-9 (1592)] 

Time-server, A : a trimmer ; one who 
adapts his principles to circumstances. 
[G. Babington, Frailty and Faith 

(1584^] 


Emeo Danaos et dona ferentes {Lat., I 
fear the Greeks even when they are 
bringing gifts) : I distrust certain 
people even though they appear to be 
friendly. In allusion to the artifice of 
a gift horse by means of which the 
Greeks secured admittance into Troy. 
[Virgil, M^ieid, II, 49] 

Timothy ; Timothy grass : a species of 
grass. After Timothy Hanson, who 
introduced it into England from 
America about 1780. 

Tin gods. The little : mean, petty, 
of&cious persons in office or positions 
of influence, [Kipling, Departmental 
Ditties (1886)] 

Tinker, The Immortal: John Bunyan 
(1628-1688). 

Tinker’s budget, A : stale news. 
[Greene, Liberality and Prodigality, 
rV, iv (1602)] 

Tinker’s mufti : a combination of army 
uniform and civilian costume. 

Tintoretto of England, The: William 
Dobson (1610-46). So-called by 
Charles I. After Tintoretto (1512- 
94), the great Venetian historical 
painter. 

Tintoretto of Switzerland, The: Jean 
Huber (1722-90)] 

Tip of one’s tongue. On the : on the point 
of being uttered. [Persius, Satires, I, 
103-6 ; De Foe, Moll Flanders (1722)] 

Tipperary rifle, A : a shillelagh {q.v.). 

Tippet, To turn : to undergo an entire 
change. [Heywood, Provevhes (1546) 

Tip-sta&, A : a constable. In allusion 
to the stafl tipped with horn, formerly 
carried by them. 

Tixesias, As blind as : in allusion to 
Tiresias, the Theban, who accidentally 
saw Athena bathing and was struck 
by her with blindness. 

Tironian sign. The : & (and), said to 

have been invented by Tullius Tiro. 

Tirynthian Swain, The : Hercules, who 
resided at Tiryns in Argolis. So-called 
by Edmund Spenser. 

Tissue ballots : ballot papers printed on 
paper so thin that several can be 
inserted in the box simultaneously. 
Invented in North Carolina in 1876 so 
as to defeat the negro majority. 

Titan ; Titanic : gigantic. In allusion 
to the Titans, the earth-giants of 
mythology. 

Tite Barnacle, A : a typical official whose 
only instinct is to cling to office. 
After a character in Didcens, Little 
Dorrii (1855}, 



Ilfhoniii] 344 

Xtthoniis, A : (i) an old man ; (a) a 
grasshopper. After a j^isoxiage in 
Grk. mythology who received the gift 
of immortaJlity but not eternal youth 
and was in extreme old age changed 
to a grasshopper. 

!Eitian of Fcanc6» The : Jacques Blan- 
chard (1600-38). After Titian (1477- 
1576), the great Venetian painter. 

Titian of Portiiga]. The : Alonzo Sanchez 
Coello (1515-90)' 

IStyre Tn^ A : a fashionable rowdy of 
the London streets at the end of the 
XTth cent. After a character in 
Virgirs First Eclogue. TifyYB tu 
peUulae tBcxibans sub tegmine fagi. 
(Tit3mis was a wanton shepherd in 
Virgirs Eclogues, 

!IStyra8» A : a shepherd. After a name 
frequently used in Grk. idylls and 
Virgil's First Eclogue. 

Toad under a harrow, like a : suffering 
persecution or oppression, like a toad 
dragged along by a harrow. [Scott, 
Rob Roy, ch. 27 (1818)] 

Toad-eatei, A ; A Toady: a sycophant; 
an obsequious parasite. In allusion to 
the practice of conjuror's attendants of 
eating toads, supposed to be poisonous, 
in order to enable their employers to 
effect seemingly miraculous cures. 
[Knox, Spirit of Despotism (r555)] 

Toady, A : see Toad-eater. 

Toasl^ To (A) : to drink to the health 
of . • ; a person whose health is drunk ; 
the offer of a compliment by means of 
a drink. In allusion to the piece of 
toast that used formerly to be placed 
in the glass of wine. 

Toasi;, On: swindled; tricked. 

Toby jng, A : a jug formed to resemble 
a stout old man in rSth cent costume. 

Tohy-m^ A : a robber. A high toby- 
man is a highwayman ; a low toby- 
man, a footpad. 

Toosin, To sound the: to sound the 
alarm. From the tocsin bell. 

Tew yizilis (Lot., the to^ (or robe) of 
manhood): full age. pir^os. Over- 
bury, Characters : A Platierer (r6t6)] 

Toga’d JTatloii, The : the Eomans. In 
allusion to the togas which they used 
to wear. [Viigil, Mneid, I, 282] 

Toledo, A : a sword. After Toledo in 
Spain, famous for its manufacture of 
sword blades. 

Tolosa, To have the gold of: to possess 
that which will bring one no good. 

In allusion to the sacued treasures of { 
Tolosa or Toulouse which were seized 


[Tommy 

by Caepxo in ro6 B.C. He was 
shortly afterwards slain in battle. 

Tom 0’ Bedlam : a wandering lunatic. 
After Bedlam Lunatic Asylum, London. 

Tom Bowling, A : a sailor. After a 
character in Smollett, Roderick Ran* 
dom (1748I. 

Tom Coney (Conney), A: a simpleton. 

Tom, Pick and Haziy : a number of 
people of no consequence. From three 
popular Eng. Christian names. 

Tom Double, A : an equivocator. 

Tom Dmm’a entertaiiunent : clumsy 
horseplay or rough joking. 

Tom Fsurtmbog, A : a natural fool. 

Tom Folio : Thomas Rawlinson (rCSi- 
1725), bibliomaniac, 

Tom Fool, A : a stupid fool ; a practical 
joker. [Killigrew, The Parson*s Wed* 
ding, II, V (1663^] 

Tom Fool’s colours: red ^d yellow; 

the colours of the professional fool, 
Tom and Jerzy days : the period of the 
Eegency (iS 10-20). After characters 
in Pierce Egan. U/e in London (1821)] 

Tom of lincom. As loud as : in allusion 
to the great church bell of Lincoln, 
cast in 1610. [Fuller, Worthies, II, 
267 (1662)] 

Tom Long, A : a sluggard. 

Tom, Long: a heavy gun carried on 
board a man-of-war. 

Tom Lony : a simpleton. 

Tom Boddy : a foolish person. From 
noddy, a fool or noodle. 

Tom Noodle: an empty-headed creature. 

Tom, Old: rum. 

Tom Pepper ; a liar. 

Tom Tailor : a tailor. 

Tom Thumb : a diminutive person ; a 
dwarf. Popularized from the adopted 
name of Carles Sherwood Stratton 
(1838^83), an Amer. dwarf; but in 
use as early as the i6th cent. [Hazlitt, 
Early Popular Poetry, II, 167 (1866)] 

Tom Kddler’g ground : no man's land ; 
esp. land lying between two countries 
or pmvinces. 

Tom TiBer (IBer), A: (i) a henpecked 
husband ; (2) an ordinatry man. 

TomTiiivil; the devil. So-called in the 
old Moralities. From ' titivil,' a 
rogue. 

Tom Towly : a simpleton. 

Tom Tma : a buffoon. 

Tom Tug, A : a waterman, who * tugs ' 
at the oars. 

Tom Tyler : Tom Tiller (?.t».). 

Tommy; Tommy Afkins, A: see 
Thomas Atkins. 



Tommy] 345 [Touched 


Tommy Dodd : the odd man in a game. 
From the refrain of a music hall song 
(c. 1866). 

Tongue in one’s cheek. To speak with 
one’s : to speak without sincerity. 

Tongue, To hold one’s : to keep silent. 
[King Alfred, Gregory's Pastorals, C, 
xxxviii, 276 (897)] 

Tongue run. To let one’s : to be talkative, 
[Vanbrugh and Cibber, The Provoked 
Husband, IV, i (1728)] 

Tongue, To wag one’s : to be talkative. 
[Wm. Combe, Tour of Dr, Syntax, 
canto IV (1820)] 

Tongues, The Three : the three learned 
languages — Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 

Tonkinois, Le : Jules Ferry (1832-93), 
Fr. statesman. In allusion to his 
responsibility for the unpopular Ton- 
kin expedition. 

Tonsure, To receive the : to become a 
priest or monk. 

Tontine, A : a system of life-insurance 
of the nature of a lottery. After its 
inventor, Lorenzo Tonti (fl. 1653), an 
It. banker. 

Tony Lumpkin, A : a rustic clown. 
After a character in Oliver Goldsmith, 
She Stoops to Conquer (1773). 

Too good to be true : of unexpectedly 
good news. [Maria Edgeworth, Castle 
Rackrent (1799)] 

Too many for . . To be : to be more 
than a match for . . [Wm, Penn, 
Some Fruits of Solitude, Pt. I, § 343 
(1718)] 

Too much of a good thing : an excess ; 
more than can be endured with 
patience. [Sydney Smith, Works, I, 
175 (i8ogj] 

Tooley Street tailor, A ! a conceited, self- 
opinionated person. See Tailors of 
Tooley Street. 

Tooth and nail : fiercely and vigorously. 
Orig. with tooth and nail, i.e., biting 
and scratching. [Jyl of Brentford 
Testament (1550)] 

Tooth, To have a sweet: to have a 
liking for sweetmeats, sugar, etc. 
[Lyly, Euphues and His England 
(1580)] 

Top ropes, A display of the : a pretence 
of friendliness. The top-rope is that 
used on board ship in raising and 
lowering the top-mast. 

Top to toe. From : completely. [Ascham, 
Toxophilus, Bk, I (1545)] 

Top of the Tree, At the : at the top of 
one*s profession, etc. [Jos. Lunn, 
Lofty Projects, i (1825)] 


Tophet : Hell. After a place in the 
neighbourhood of Jerusalem where 
there was a perpetual fire for the 
destruction of the Cityh refuse. 

Topiarian Art, The : the art of cutting 
trees and shrubs into strange shapes. 
Grk., topiarios, an ornamental gar- 
dener. 

Top-sawyer, A : a person in a superior 
position. Properly, the sawyer who 
works the upper handle 01 a pit- 
saw. 

Topsy, To grow like : in allusion to a 
young negro girl in Mrs. Harriet 
Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 
(i 85 il, who, not knowing her parentage 
or origin, expected that she grew like 
a plant. 

Torquemada, A : a persecutor. After 
Tomas de Torquemada (c. 1420-98;, 
first Inquisitor-General for Castile. 

Torrens System, The : a system of con- 
veyance of land. After Sir Robert 
Rich. Torrens (1814-84), Austral, 
statesman. 

Tory, A : an extreme conservative. The 
Tory Party grew out of the Cavaliers 
and their successors, the Abhorrers, 
and was one of the two principal 
parties in the State until after the 
Reform Act of 1832 it became known 
as the Conservative Party. The name 
Tory was first applied about the year 
1679 as a term of derision. It was 
derived from the designation of bands 
of Irish robbers. 

Tory Democracy : a term invented by 
Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-95) to 
indicate the combination of conserva- 
tive and democratic principles. 

Toto ccelo {Lat., by the whole heavens) : 
as the poles asunder. [Macrobius, 
Satires, III, xii, 10)] 

Touch bottom. To : to reach the lowest 
point. 

Touch and go : a very narrow escape. 
Metaphor drawn from coaching, when 
the drivers were fond of driving within 
hair-breadths of obstacles. 

Touch, To keep in : to keep within the 
possibility of communication with .. 

Touch, To keep : to keep faith. [Rob. 
Wilson, Three Ladies of Londo 7 i, II, 
1065 (15S4)] 

Touch, To put to the : to put to the test. 
[A Warning for Faire Woyneji, II, 
I553“"4 (1599)3 An allusion to the 
touchstone. 

Touched, To be : to be mentally 
deranged to a slight extent. [W. T. 



Tonehstone] 34^ [Trecentisti 


MoncriefE, The Spectre Bridegroom, 11 , 
i (1821)] 

Toucbstone of . . The : the criterion 
of .. Properly, a stone used for 
testing the quality of an alloy. 
[Ascham, The Schoolmaster, Bk. II 

(1570)] 

Tough yam. To spia a: to tell an 
incredible story. 

Toujours perdiiz (Pr., always partridge) : 
something repeated ad nauseam. The 
tradition^ origin of the phrase rests 
with Henri IV of France (1553-1610). 
His spiritual adviser remonstrated 
with him on his marital infidelities. 
The King thereupon enquired his con- 
fessor’s favourite dish, and learning 
that it was partridge, gave instructions 
for him to be supplied with it at every 
meal. The confessor at the earliest 
opportunity' complained of the lack of 
change of fare, which he now contem- 
plated with loathing, and tlie 3 ECing 
promptly pointed the moral as it 
applied to himself. 

Tour de force, A (Fr,) . a masterwork ; 
a feat of strength. 

Tour, The Grand : the completion of a 
young gentleman’s education in the 
early rgth cent., consisting of a 
journey through Western and Central 
Europe. 

Tout ensemble,' The (Fr.) : the general 
effect. [Gray, Letter to Mason, June, 

1757] 

Tout le monde (Fr,, all the world) : 
everybody. 

Tout est perdu fois Phonneur (Fr., 
everything is lost except honour) : the 
message sent by Francis I of France 
to his mother after his defeat at Pavia 

(1525). 

Tow on the distaff. To have : to have 
business to attend to. [Chaucer, The 
Miller's Tale (14th cent,)] 

Towering passion. In a: in extreme 
auger. 

Town and gown row, A : a fight between 
undergraduates and town roughs at 
Oxford or Cambridge. 

Town, A man about: a man who is 
frequently spending his leisure in 
public. [Nash, Works, II, 283 (1593)] 

Town by sts^ving it. To take a : see Take. 

Toyshop of the world. The : Birmingham. 
So-called by Edmund Burke. By 
toys are intended small articles of steel. 

Traces, To kick over the : to break loose 
from restraint. A metaphor drawn 
from the stableyard. 


Track, The beaten : the habitual course. 
[Francis Junius, The Painting of the 
Ancients, 242 (1638)] 

Tracks, To mike : to go off rapidly. 

Tractarians : see Oxford Movement. 

Trade, The : tradesmen as a body en- 
gaged in a particular trade, esp. the 
liquor trade. 

Tragedy, The Father of : see Father. 

Tragedy, The Father of French : see 
Father. 

Trail one’s coat. To : to offer defiance to 
aU and sundry. 

Train bands : proj^rly. ‘ trained bands.' 
Eng. urban militia in existence from 
1604 to 1660. 

Tramp steamer, A : a cargo vessel which 
does not run on any regular route, but 
plies between any ports at which 
business offers. 

Transpontine (Lai. trans across and 
pons^ the bridge) : melodramatic. In 
allusion to the melodrama played in the 
theatres on the Surrey side of the 
Thames at London. 

Traveller on a person, To put the: 
to tell fables to . . See Traveller's 
tale. 

Traveler’s license: exaggeration. In 
allusion to the reputation acquired by 
travellers. 

Traveller’s tale, A : an exaggerated 
acount. In elusion to the reputation 
for exaggeration acquired by travellers 
as a class. 

Treacle Town : (i) Bristol, a centre of 
the sugar refining industry ; (2) 

Macclesfield, in elusion to the acd- 
dente overturning of a cask of treacle 
in one of the principal streets of the 
town and the consequent widespread 
eating in the streets of bread and 
treacle. 

Tread on air. To : to be lighthearted as 
if buoyant. 

Tread on the tail of one’s coat. To : to 

give gratuitous offence in order to give 
an opportunity for a fight. A practice 
attributed to the Irish. 

Treasury Bench, The : the seat in 
Parliament on which the members of 
the Government sit. 

Treaty Ports : ports, esp. in China and 
other countries where foreign trade is 
under restrictions, which have been 
freed by treaty with European powers, 
to commerce, 

Trecentisti, The : the famous men of 
Italy of the Trecento or 13th cent., 
viz., Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, 



Tree] 347 [Triumvirate 


and to a less extent Giotto, Giovanni 
da Pisa and Andrea Orcagna. 

Tree, Between the bark and the : see 
Bark and the tree. 

Tree, To bark up the wrong : to make a 
mistake. 

Tree, At the top of the : see Top of the 
tree. 

Tree, Up a : see Up a tree. 

Tree-geese : barnacles. In allusion to 
their supposed metamorphosis into 
geese. 

Tregeagle, To roar like : Tregeagle is in 
mythology a Cornish giant. His 
roaring is the howling of the wind over 
the downs. 

Trek, The Great : the wholesale migration 
in 1836 and 1837 of Dutch settlers in 
Cape Colony northwards and east- 
wards which led to the formation of 
Dutch autonomous settlements beyond 
the Orange River and in Natal. 

Trencher friend, A : one whose friendship 
is dependent on hospitality. 

Trencher knight, A : one who shines 
most at table. [Shakespeore, Love's 
Labour Lost, V, ii (1594J] 

Trencher, To lick the : to behave as a 
parasite. [Withal, Dictionarie (1608)] 

Trent Incident, The : the forcible arrest 
in 1861 on board a British steamer, by 
the captain of an Amer. man-of-war, 
of two representatives of the Southern 
States who were on their way to 
Europe, The incident led to very 
strained relations between Great 
Britain and the United States. 

Tribune of the People, The : John Bright 
(1811-89), Eng. radical statesman and 
orator. 

Tribunes, The Last of the : Cola di 
Rienzi (1313-54), Rom. revolutionist. 

Tribute of the dead. To demand : to act 
foolishly and to no purpose. From 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Trice, In a [Span., iris, an instant) : in a 
very short time. [Shakespeare, Kir.g 
Lear, I, i (1605-6)] 

Tricolour, The : the Fr. national flag, 
adopted at the Revolution, in three 
colours — ^blue, white and red. 

Tricoteuse, A (Fy., a woman who knits) : 
a woman who engages in politics. In 
allusion to the women who knitted 
while watching executions during the 
Fr. revolution. 

Trident, To wield the : to be supreme on 
the sea. After the trident, depicted 
as the weapon of Neptune, the god of 
the ocean. 


Tried in the balance and found wanting : 
tested in character. In allusion to the 
ancient Egyptian belief that souls were 
weighed after death. See Weighed in 
the balance. 

Triennial Act, The : an Act of 1694 
limiting the duration of a parliament 
to three years. Repealed in 1716. 

Trilbies : bare feet. After Trilby, a 
character who went barefooted in 
George du Maurieris novel of that 
title (1894). 

Trim, In good (bad) : in good (bad) form. 

Trimmer, A : a political opportunist who 
transfers his adherence from one party 
to the other. The Marquis of Halifax 
(1633-95) was known as ' The 
Trimmer.' A nautical metaphor. 

Trinity House : a guild established in the 
reign of Henry VIII for the regulation 
of British shipping. 

Trink-geld ifierm., drink-money) : a tip. 

Triple Alliance, The : the Alliance 
between Germany, Austria and Italy, 
formed in 1883 and dissolved in 1915. 
Previous triple alliances were between 
(i) England, Sweden and Holland 
against France in 1668 ; (2) England, 
France and Holland against Sweden in 
1717, and (3) Great Britain, Holland 
and Prussia against Russia in 1789. 

Triple Tyrant, The : the Pope. In 
allusion to his three-tiered crown. 

Tripoli, To come from : to be extremely 
agile and active. In allusion to the 
tricks of the apes imported from 
Tripoli, North Africa. 

Tripos, The : the final honours examin- 
ation for the B.A. degree at the 
University of Cambridge. Properly, 
the final honours degree in mathe- 
matics only. From the three-legged 
stool on which the Bachelor of Arts 
used to sit when he disputed with the 
candidates for the degree. 

Tripping, To catch ; to detect in error. 
{Ihe Spectator, No. 105 (1711)] 

Trismegistus, A young : a young chemist 
whose achievements give much pro- 
mise. After Trismegistos (Grk., thrice- 
greatest), a title of the Egyptian 
Hermes, the god of the secrets of 
alchemy. 

Triton among minnows, A ; one who far 
outshines or outdistances his associates. 
After Triton, a Grk. and Rom. god that 
lived under the sea. [Shakespeare. 
Coriolanus, III, i (1609)] 

Triumvirate of IMan Poets, The : Dante, 
Boccaccio and Petrarch. 



Trivet] 34« 


Trivet, As right as a : absolutely right. 
In Elusion to the firmness of a trivet 
standing on its three feet. [Hood, 
Dead Robbery {1835) ; Dickens, Pick- 
wick Papers (1836)] Other derivations 
are from Tmefits, the famous London 
wigmakeis, and from Sir Thomas 
Trivet (d. 1388), Eng. admiral, who 
escap^ when the greater portion of 
the fleet was wrecked. 

Troilns, As true as : after Troilus, the 
faithful lover, in the Iliad, Shakes- 
peare, etc. 

Tf ojan, A : a person who devotes himself 
to his task. In this sense the word has 
been used at least since the Elizabethan 
era. 

Trojan horse, A : a gift that brings evil 
instead of good. In allusion to the 
wooden horse, by means of which 
Troy was betrayed, left by the Greeks 
as a parting gift. 

Trojan, A rego^: a valiant fighter; 
a hero. In allusion to the Trojans 
who withstood the Greeks for ten 
years, as narrated by Homer. 
Trophonios, To have visited the cave of : 
to become sad and melancholy. After 
the cave of Trophonios, one of the most 
celebrated of the oracles of Greece, 
from which enquirers invariably re- 
turned in a state of terror. 

Tronble the waters. To : to disturb the 
peace ; to stir up trouble. [Rob. 
Tailor, The Hog Hath Lost His Pearl, 
IV, i (1614) ; Bacon, Henry VII 
(1622)] 

Troubled waters. To fish in : see Fish. 

Trourilogan’s advice: advice to which 
cATi he given two opposite interpre- 
tations. In allusion to the advice 
given by Trouillogan to Pantragruel 
in Rabelais, Gargantua and PaniagrueL 

Troy, New-reared : London. After the 
early British name, Troy-novant. 

Truck Acts, The : the Acts of Parliament 
of 1831 and 1887 forbidding the pay- 
ment of wages in kind. 

True blue : see Blue. 

Trixe colours : see Colours. 

True as fate. As : absolutely reliable. 
[Thomas Dekker, The Honest Whore, 
Pt. I. iv, 4 (1604)] 

True as the needle to the pole, As : in 
allusion to the magnetic pole and the 
needle of the compass. [The Spec- 
tator, No. 596 (1714)] 

Tme as the pole-star to the north. As : 

absolutely reliable. 

True ring. To have the : see Ring. 


True as steel. As : absolutely trust- 
worthy. [Chaucer, Troilus and 
Creseide, Bk. V (14th cent.) ; Tovmeley 
Plays, XIII j Shepherds Play, II 
(1450) ; Interlude of Youth, 1. 471 

True^as touch, As : thoroughly reliable. 
In allusion to the testing of gold by 
the touchstone. [Love Me Little, 
Love Me Long (1570 ) ; Spenser, 
Faerie Queen, I, iii, 2 (1590)] 

True as a turtle-dove. As : in allusion to 
the proverbial conj’ugal affection and 
faithfulness of doves. [Spenser, 
Faerie Queen, III, xi, 2 (1590)] 
Trump card. To play one’s : to take a 
step calculated to settle finally a 
matter in one’s own favour. A card- 
playing metaphor. 

Trmnps, To be put to one’s : to be driven 
to the last push. Cardplaying meta- 
phor. [Eyly, Endimion, III, iv 

(1584)] 

Trumps, To turn up : to be successful, 
half unexpectedly. A cardplaying 
metaphor. [Sir Thos. Overbury, 
Newes from Court (i6i6)] 

Trumpet one’s own deeds. To : to adver- 
tise one’s own virtues. After the 
practice of the Pharisaic sect of the 
Almsgivers of having a trumpet 
sounded before them in the streets in 
in order to summon the poor. 

Trumpet, To sound (blow) one’s own : 
to sing one’s own praises. After the 
practice of heralds of announcing by 
means of flourishes of trumpets. 
[Anth. Brewer, Lingua, IV, i (1607)] 
Trumpet before victory. To sound the : 
see Sound. 

Trumpeter is dead, Your : a suggestion 
that one is boasting, that since no 
one else is available one must oneself 
advertise one’s virtues. 

Trunudngton, To be bom in : to be a 
fool. [Interlude of Youth, 498-^ (i554)] 
Tu quoqne, A (Lat., you also) : a counter- 
charge, similar in character to the 
original charge. The phrase formed 
the title and also a frequent refrain 
in a comedy by John Cooke (1614). 

Tu quoque argument, A : see Tu quoque. 
Tub, A tale of a : an incredible sto^. 
Popularised from the name of a satire 
by Jonathan Swift (1704). [Bale, 
Com, Co 7 icerning Three Laws (1538)] 
Tab to the whale. To throw a : to create 
a diversion. A whaling metaphor, 
[Susan Ferrier, Inheritance, ch. 52 
(1824)] 



Tu(^] 349 [Two 


Tack, Friar : a vagabond monk who 
appears in Eng. medieval folklore. 

Tuck^hop, A : a shop where confec- 
tionery, etc., is sold to school-boys. 

Tuft-hunter, A : a toady. From the 
Oxford term, tuft, denoting a noble- 
man-nndergraduate. In allusion to 
the gold tufts or tassels they used to 
wear. 

Tug of war, A : a decisive contest for 
supremacy. 

Tulcan Bishops : Scottish bishops 
appointed by James I on the under- 
standing that they would surrender 
to him a portion of their revenues. 
From tulcan, a stuffed calfskin used 
to encourage a cow to yield her milk. 

Tune, To change one’s : to change one's 
attitude to a matter under considera- 
tion. [Dekker and Webster, North- 
ward Ho, II, i {1607)] 

Tune the old cow died of, The : advice 
instead of relief. After a passage in 
an early ballad. Jack WhaXey had a Cow, 

Turf, The I the sport of horse-racing. 

Turf, The Blue Ribbon of the : see Blue. 

Turk, Not to have rounded Cape : still to 
regard women from the oriental point 
of view. 

Turk, To turn : to change for the worse. 
Formerly to become a renegade, 
[Dekker, The Seuen Deadly Sinnes : 
Politick Bankruptisme (1606)] 

Turk, A Young : a member of the 
Turkish Reform Party which effected 
the Revolution of 1909. 

Turn one’s coat. To : see Coat. 

Turn, A good : a favour. [Heywood, 
Pfoverhes (1546) ; Poston Letters, No. 
490 (1464)] 

Turn in one’s grave, To catise to : to 
reverse the policy of one who is dead 
or to take such other action as would, 
if he had been still alive, have caused 
him much annoyance. 

Turn a person’s head. To : to infatuate. 

Turn over a new leaf. To ; see Leaf. . 

Turn, To serve a person’s : to be useful 
on an occasion and then probably be 
discarded. [Damon and Pithias, 1 . 28 

(1567)] 

Turn the tables on . . To : see Tables. 

Turn of the tide. The : a change in one's 
fortunes. 

Turnbull Street rogue, A : in allusion to 
the frequenters of Tummill (Turnbull) 
Street, Clerkenwell, London. 

Turncoat, A : a renegade ; one who 
changes his party. Said to have been 
first applied to an early duke of 


Savoy whose dominions marched with 
those of both France and Spain. His 
policy was always to be friendly with 
the stronger of these two rival powers. 
The balance between them was, how- 
ever, continually changing and the 
Duke had, therefore, a coat made blue 
(the Span, colour) on one side and 
white (Fr.) on the other, which he 
wore either side outwards as the 
necessity arose. [Burton, Anatomy of 
Melancholy : To the Reader (1621)] 

Turpentine State, The : North Carolina. 
On account of its large production of 
turpentine. 

Turpin, A Dick : a highwayman. After 
a notorious highwa)mxan who was 
executed in 1739. 

Turtle, To turn : to capsize ; to turn over. 

Tweed comes to Melrose, As the : in a 
roundabout manner. In allusion to 
the twisting of the River Tweed 
before it reaches Melrose. 
Tweedledum and Tweedledee : two 
parties or causes the difference between 
which is very slight. [John Byrom, 
On the Feuds between Handel and 
Bononcini (1730)] 

Twelfth, The ; the 12th of August, the 
day on which grouse shooting com- 
mences in England. 

Twelfth Night : the Festival of Epiphany; 
the eve of the twelfth day after 
Christmas, and the conclusion of the 
medieval Christmas festivities. 

Twelve Tables, The : the codification of 
the Rom. Laws of 451 and 450 B.C. 

Twice-told tal^ A : a story that is 
already familiar. 

Twickenham Bard, The : Alexander 
Pope (1688-1744), who lived at 
Twickenham. 

Twin relics of barbarism : slavery and 
polygeimy. So-called by Charles 
Sumner (1811-74) in a speech before 
the United States Senate. 

Twins, The Sacred : Romulus and Remus, 
the reputed founders of Rome. 

Twinkling of an eye. In the : in the 
passing of an infinitesimal period of 
time. [Jno, Hejrwood, The Four 
P.P., 11. 723-5 (1540)] 

Twist round one’s finger. To : to influence 
and control with exixeme ease. 

Twist the lion’s t^ To : see lion's tail. 

Two masters. To serve : to endeavour to 
satisfy two opposing demands simul- 
taneously. [%Iatthew, vi, 24] 

Two minds, To be of ; to be undecided 
in opinion. 



Two] 


330 


[Unde 


Two strings to one’s l)Ow, To have : see 
Strings. 

Two and two together. To put : to deduce 
from the evidence. 

Two-edged sword, A : an argument or 
instrument capable of harming as 
well as of benefiting the user. 
{Proverbs, v, 4] 

Two-legged mare. The : the gallows. 

Twopenny damn, Not worth a : of 
practically no value. In allusion to an 
Indian coin, a dam, which much 
depreciated in value. 

Tybum Cross, To preach at: to be 
hanged. In allusion to the gallows, 
fonnerly erected at Tyburn, near 
London. [Geo. Gascoigne, The Steel 
Glass (1576)] 

Tybum fece, A : a criminal appearance. 
After Tybum, near London, the former 
place of execution. 

Tybum jig. To dance the : see Dance. 

Tybum tippet, A : a halter. After 
Tybum, 5ie place of execution near 
London. 

Tybum tree : the gallows. 

Tyrtaeus, The Spanish: blanuel Jos6 
Quintana (1772-1857). After Tyr- 
taeus (7th cent. B.C.) who wrote war 
songs for the Spartans. 


U.P, It’s all : the game is lost. It*s all 
up. [Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. 24 

(1837)] 

Ugly affair. An : an unpleasant business. 

Ugly customer, An : a person intercourse 
with whom is to be avoided ; one 
liable to have recourse to physical 
force or other crime. 

Ugly as the devil, As : extremely 
ugly. [Fielding, Tom Thumb, II, 7 

(1730)3 

Ulstmr, The Red Hand of : a portion of 
the arms of Ulster ; said to have been 
derived from the exploit of O’Neile 
who, vowing on the occasion of the 
invasion that he would be the first to 
land, found his boat outstripped and, 
in order to fulfil his vow, cut off his 
hand and threw it ashore. 

Ultima Ratio Begum (Lat., the last 
argument of kings.) : a motto which 
Louis Xrv of France had inscribed 
on his cannon. 

Ultima Thule [Lot,, furthest Thule] : the 
most remote district of the world. 
Thule was the most northerly land 
known to the Romans. [Pliny, 4, 16, 

30. § 104] 


Ultimum vale {Lat,, the last farewell) : 
a finishing stroke. 

Ultimus Romanorum {Lot., the last of the 
Romans) : (i) Horace Walpole 

(1717-97), Earl of Orford, politician 
and man of letters ; (2) Samuel 

Johnson {1709-84), so-called by 
Thos. Carlyle, {Heroes, Y (1S41)] 

Ultra vires (LaL^ beyond the power) : 
in excess of one's legitimate rights. 

Ultramontane, An: a member of a 
Continental, esp. Germ., political party 
which supports the temporal claims of 
the Pope. Lat., ultra, beyond, 
monies, the mountains, i.e., the Alps, 
i.e,, from Italy or Rome. 

Ulysses’ bow : the bow whicfii Ul3rases 
alone could bend and with which he 
shot the suitors who had been pestering 
his wife Penelope during his absence 
at and subsequent to the Siege of 
Troy. 

Ulysses of the Blghlands, The : Sir 
Evan Cameron, Lord of Lochiel 
(d. 1719). After the hero of Homer's 
Iliad. 

Umbrage, To take : to take offence. 
Lat., umbra, a shade, i.e^ a gloomy 
view. [Jas. Puckle, 2 ' he Club : 
Buffoon (1711)] 

Umbrella, Under a person’s: under a 
person's influence or control. In 
allusion to the umbrella of state carried 
over certain African potentates. 

Undal letters : letters an inch high, in 
use from the 5th to the 9th cents. 
Lat., un-cia, an inch. 

Undasp the purple leaves of war. To : to 
proclaim war. [Thos. Kyd, Jeronimo, 
Pt. I. U. 435-6 (1591)] 

Unde, An : a pawnbroker. Lat., uncus, 
a hook, on which pledges used to be 
hung. [Dekker, Northward Ho, I, ii 
{1607)] 

Unde over. To come the : to exceed 
one's privilege of reproving or punish- 
ing. Among the Romans an unde, 
when left the guardian of his nephews, 
proverbially showed himself exceeding- 
ly strict and severe. 

Unde Sam : a popular name for the 
United States Government. The 
initial letters of both are identical. 
It has also been attributed to the 
popular name of Samuel Wilson 
(1770-1854), a government inspector 
whose duty it was to pass supplies 
during the war of 1812, and who was 
accustomed to mark those he had 
passed * U.S.* (Uncle Sam.). - 



Uncle] 351 

Uncle Sam’s heel : Florida. In allusion 
both to its shape and to its geo- 
graphical position in the U.S. 

Uncle Sam’s icebox : Alaska, in U.S. 
territory’'. 

Unco guid {Scot.) : extremely good ; 
religious. 

Uncrowned King, The : Charles Stewart 
Parnell (1846-^1), the leader of the 
Irish Nationalist Party. So-called by 
Wm. Edw. Forster in a speech in the 
House of Commons (Feb. 22, 1883). 

Under which King Bezonian ? : make 
your choice of two alternatives. See 
Bezonian. 

Under-dog, To be : to be the weaker of 
two parties. From The Under Dog 
in the Fights a song by David Barker 
(1876)] 

Underground Railway, The : an 
organisation for the secret conveyance 
of fugitive slaves into Canada from 
the U.S. before the abolition of 
slavery. 

Underground Russia : Nihilistic Russia. 

Undiscovered country from whose bourn 
no traveller returns. The : death. 
[Shakespeare, Hamlet, II, ii (1602-3)] 

Unearned increment; increase in the value 
of property due to no action on the part 
of the owner, but to' public improve- 
ments in the neighbourhood or other 
extraneous cause. 

Unguem, Ad {Lat., to the nail) : exactly. 

Unigenitus, The : the papal bull of 1713 
directed against Jansenism, the first 
word of which is unigenitus. 

Union Jack, The : the national flag of 
the United Kingdom. Properly, a 
small form of it used as a Jack. The 
union is that of the grosses of St. 
George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick. 

Unionist, A : a member of the Brit, 
political party formed in 1886 of a 
union of Conservatives and secessionist 
Liberals, to oppose the grant of Home 
Rule to Ireland. 

United Brotherhood, The : see Clan-na- 
Gael. 

United Irishmen, The : an Irish political 
body consisting of Irish Catholics and 
Protestants united in opposition to 
the Brit. Government, formed in 1789. 

United Provinces, The : the seven 
provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, 
Friesland, Groningen, Gelderland and 
Oberyssel, which were combined in 
1579 to form the Netherlands. 

Universal Doctor, The; (i) Thomas 
Aquinas (c. 1226-74), ItaJ. scholastic 


[Upper 

philosopher; (2) Alain de Lille (c. 
1128-1203), philosopher and poet. 

Unknown, The Great ; Sir Walter Scott 
(1771-1832), as the anon^unous author 
of the Waverley novels. So-called by 
James Ballantyne, the printer. 

Unlearned Parliament, The : see Parlia- 
ment of Dunces. 

UnHcked Cub, An : see Cub. 

Unmerciful Parliament, The : see Par- 
liament. 

Unparliamentary language : language 
not permissible in parliamentary de- 
bate or interjection. 

Unser Fritz; see Fritz. 

Unspeakable Turk, The ; an epithet first 
applied to the Turkish Government 
by Thos. Carlyle, in a letter read at a 
meeting in the St. James's Hall, 
London, in 1876. 

Unstable as water, As : [Genesis, xlix, 4] 

Unwashed, The Great : the common 
people. So-called first by Edmund 
Burke, 

Unwritten Law, The : punishment, gene- 
rally the murder, of an offender 
by one who has suflered from his 
offence, generally in a case of seduction. 

Up and doing, To be : to be active. 
[Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, Pt. 2 
(1684)] 

Up to snuff : wideawake ; not easily 
deceived. 

Up the ^out ; in pawn ; in a hopeless 
condition’. 

Up train. An : a train proceeding 
towards the railway headquarters. 
See Go up. To. 

Up a tree : in a difi&culty ; like an 
opossum up a gum tree with the 
hunter waiting below. 

Up with . . To be all : the last chance 
to have been lost by . . 

Ups and downs : alternating prosperity 
and adversity. 

Upas tree, A : anything baneful. Pro- 
perly a poison tree, native to 
Macassar. 

Upper Circles, The : the higher ranks of 
society. 

Upper hand. To gain the : to gain control 
over . . [Thos. Preston, King Cam- 
byses, 11. 19 1-2 (1561)] 

Upper House, The : the House of Lords. 
As distinguished from the Leaver 
House or House of Commons. 

Upper Ten (Thousand), The : the 
wealthiest and most influential class 
in the country ; nominally estimated 
at 10,000 souls. So designated by 



Upperiendom] 


352 


[Vangisard 


Nathaniel Parker Willis {1806-67), 
Amer. poet and writer. 

npp^sndom l the aristocracy. See 
Upper Ten, 

Upset the apple-cart. To: see Apple- 
cart- 

Upset price. An: the minimum price 
hxed for an auction sale. 

Urbi et Orbi {Lot., to the dty and the 
world) : (i) of an announcement 

intended to be as public as possible ; 
(2) the formula relating to the papal 
blessing uttered from file balcony of 
the Church of St. John Lateran. 

Uriah Heep, An : a h5rpocritical schemer. 
After a character in Dickens, David 
Copperfield (1849). 

Useless Parliament, The : see Parliament, 


Useless. 

Utas of a feast. The : any day not more 
than eight days after a feast. Fr., 
huit^ eight. \Paston Letters, No. 482 
(1464)] 

Uti posadetis {Lat., as you possess) : a 
diplomatic term, used in treaties to 
signify the retention of territory then 
in the possession of the parties. 

Uioida, An (Grk,, nowhere) : an ideal 
land of perfection. After the title of 
a work (1516) by Sir Thomas More 
(1478-1535). 

Utopian : ideal and impracticable. See 
Utopia. 


Vade mecnin, A (Lai., go with me) : a 
handy guide-book or other work of 
reference. [A Manual or a Justice of 
the Peace, His Vade Mecum (1642)] 
Vse victis ! (Lat., woe to the conquered) : 
a remark of Brennus, the Gaulish 
conqueror of Rome (fl. 390 B.C.). He 
consented to evacuate the city on 
payment of a thousand talents. The 
Rom. representatives complained that 
his weights were false whereupon he 
threw his sword into the scsde, ex- 
claiming, ^ Vae victis 1 * 

Val^tine^s Day, St. : see Saint Valen- 
tine's Day. 

Valhalla, A : a pantheon ; a place where 
a nation's most illustrious dead are 
buried. In Scand. mythology, the 
place where Odin entertained the 
spirits of the illustrious dead. 
Valkyrie, A : a nymph of Valhalla, who, 
attending the army in battle, selected 
the heroes intended for death and 
conducted them to Valhalla. (Scand. 
mythology). 


Valley of the Shadow of Death, The : a 
very serious illness or other state in 
which the risk of death is considerable. 
From a locality described in Bunyan's 
Pilgrim* s Progress (1678). [Psafw, 
xxiii, 4] 

Vandal, A : one who has no consideration 
for the claims of art or literature. 
After the Vandals, a rude, barbaric 
northern race who overran the Rom. 
empire in the 5th cent, and ruthlessly 
destroyed, heedless of the claims of art. 

Vandalism, A : an action, worthy of a 
vandal (q.v.). 

Vanderbilt, A : a very wealthy man. In 
allusion to the proverbial wealth of the 
Vanderbilt family of the U.S. 

Vandyck, Mie Englii^ : William Dobson 
(1610-47). After Sir Anthony van 
Dyck (1599-1641), a great Flemish- 
English portrait painter, 

Vandyck of Prance, The: Hyacinth 
Rigaud y Ros (1659-1743). 

Vand&ck of Sculpture, The: Antoine 
Coysevox (1640-1720). 

Vani^ Pair : the world and its worldli- 
ness. After a fair described in Bunyan, 
Pilgrim's Progress (1678). 

Vantage loaf, ifie : the thirteenth loaf 
of a baker's dozen. 

Vaiiormn; Variorum Edition: an edition 
of a classical work that contains the 
notes and comments of more than 
one editor. Lat., editio cum notis 
variorum, an edition with the notes of 
different (authorities). 

Varican, The : the papal authority. 
After the palace of the popes which 
stands on the Vatican hill at Rome. 

Vaticanism : the doctrine of absolute 
papal supremacy. After the Vatican 
Council of 1869-70 which proclaimed 
that doctrine. 

Vauban, A : a distinguished military 
engineer. After S6bastien le Prestre 
de Vauban (1633-1707). 

Vaudeville : light opera or musical 
comedy. Orig. songs of a light and 
lively bharacter. After V au-de-Vire in 
Normandy where Olivier Basselin 
(c. 1400-50), composed such songs. 

Vaudeville, The Father of ; Olivier 
Basselin (c. 1400-50), of Vau-de-Vire 
Normandy. 

Vaugirard, The Deputies of : a one-man 
company. In allusion to an incident 
of the reign of Charles VIII of France 
when a solitary individual was an- 
nounced, to increase his importance, 
as ' The Deputies of Vaugirard.' 



Vehmgerielit] 353 

Vehmgerioht, A : oae of several secret 

tribunals which flourished in South 
Germany in the 14th and 15th cents. 

Velvet, To be on : so to arrange one's 
bets as to render loss impossible. 

Venereal disease : after Venus, the 
goddess of love. 

Venetian Addison, The: Gaspare Gozzi 
(1713-86). On account of the model- 
ling of his writings on the essays 
in The Spectator, of which Joseph 
Addison (1672-1719) was the author. 

Veni, vidi, vici [Lat,, I came, I saw, I 
conquered) : report of Julius Caesar 
after his victory at Zela over Phamaces, 
King of Pontus (47 B.C.). 

Venice of the East, The : Bangkok. 

Venice of the North, The : (i) Stockholm ,* 

(2) Amsterdam. 

Venice of the West, The : Glasgow. 

Ventre h terre (P^., belly to the ground) : 
at full gallop. 

Venus, A : a beautiful woman. After 
the goddess of beauty and love. 

Venus’ lap : the sea. In allusion to the 
Grk. goddess, Aphrodite (with whom 
the Rom. goddess, Venus, was identi- 
fied) who, according to legend, rose 
out of the sea. 

Verb. sap. ; Verbum sap. {Lat., verbum 
sapienti sat est, a word to the wise is 
sufficient) : the expression of a hint. 

Verba, Ipsissima : see Ipsissma. 

Verbatim et literatim {Lat,, word for 
word and letter for letter) : exactly. 

Verdant Green, A: a simpleton; an 
easily deceived young man. After a 
character in Cuthbert Bede's novel of 
that name (1853). 

Vere de Vere, Caste of: the stamp of 
aristocracy. [Tennyson, Lady Clara 
Vere de Vere (1842)] 

Veronese Vespers : a rising in 1797 of the 
Veronese against the Fr, army of 
occupation in which a number of Fr. 
wounded were massacred. 

Vers de Soci§t6 {Fr., Society verses) : 
social or familiar poetry. First intro- 
duced into English at the beginning of 
the 19th cent. ' 

Versailles, The German: Cassel. On 
account of its gardens, fountains, etc. 

Versi Bemeschi : humorous verses. 
After Franceso Bemi (1490-1536), the 
Ital. poet. 

Vesta, A : a wax ludfer match. After 
the sacred fire which was kept alight 
by the Vestal virgins. 

Vestal : chaste. In fusion to the Vestal 
virgins who served in the temple of 


[Vine 

the Rom. virgin goddess of the hearth, 
Vesta. 

Vestal Virgm, A : see Vestal. 

Veto, Monsieur et Madame : see Monsieur 
Veto and Madame Veto- 

Vexed Question, A : a much debated 
question. [Heylin, Ecclesia Vindicata, 
215 (1657)] 

Vi et armis (Lat.) : by force and arms. 

Via Dolorosa, A (Lat., grievous way) : 
a painful course. After the name 
given by the Christians to the road 
from the Mount of Olives to the place 
of the Crucifixion. 

Vicar of Bray, A : a turncoat, Symon 
Symonds is said to have been twice a 
Rom. Catholic and twice a Protestant 
in the successive reigns of Henry VIII, 
Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. 
When charged with being a turncoat 
he replied that he stuck to his princi- 
ples, to die Vicar of Bray. 

Vicar of Christ, The : a title of the Pope. 
Lit., one who acts for Christ. 

Vice versa (Lat., in a turned position) : 
in the opposite manner. [A. Copley, 
Answer to a Letter of a Jesniied 
Gentleman (r6oi)] 

Vicious circle, A : a difficulty, the solu- 
tion of which creates a second difficulty 
to meet which the original difficulty 
has to be increased. 

Victorians, The Great : the famous men 
of letters, statesmen, scientists, etc., of 
the Victorian era. 

Vieux Benard (Fr., old fox) : Nicholas 
Jean Soult (1769-1851), Marshal of 
France. The name given to him by 
his soldiers. 

Vigilance Committee, A : a self-appointed 
committee, nominally intended to 
uphold the law and preserve order, 
but given in practice to the exercise 
of Lynch Law (q-v.) and other 
atrocities. Originated in California at 
the time of the Gold rush. 

Villadom : (i) the Middle class ; (2) 
the suburbs and their inhabitants. 
From the villas of which so much of 
the suburbs is composed. 

Villages, To come home by the : to be 
drunk. A provincial expression. If, 
on the other hand, one comes home by 
the fields one has no opportunity for 
drinking. 

Ville Ltimibre, La (Fr., the light-dty; 
the city of lights) : Paris. 

Vincent’s law : cheating at cards. 

Vine and filg-iree. Under his : in a com- 
fortable home. [I Kings, iv, 25] 

hh 



vino] 354 LVnIttfo 


Vino veiiias. In (Lot,, in wins there is 
trui^) : the suggestion that a man when 
drunk wiU teU the truth. [Pliny, 
Natural History, XIV, 141; Mrs. 
Hozzi, Anecdotes of Samuel Johnson 
(1786)] 

'^ol^ Coipoial 5 see Corporal. 

Vizgilt The ChzlsiiaiL : (i) Marco Girolamo 
Vida (1490-1566), Ital. prelate, scholar 
and I^t. p<^t ; (2} Giacomo 

Sannazaro (1458-1530). After Virgil 
(70-19 B.C.), the great Rom. poet. 

Viigi]. The Bn glSh : Alfred, Lord 
Tennyson (1809-92). 

Virgil and Horace of the Ghristjans, The : 
Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. 348- 
c. 410), Span. Lat. poet. So-cklled by 
Bentl^. 

Virgil of Dramaiio Poets, The; Ben 
Jonson (1574-1637). So-called by 
Dryden. 

Virgil of the French Drama* The : Jean 
Radne (1639-99). So-called by Sir 
Walter Scott. 

Virgil of Prose, The: Robert Louis 
Stevenson (1850-94). 

Vlndn Ciiy ; Virgin Portress, A : one 
that has never been captured by an 
enemy. 

Wrgin Mary’s Bodyguard : the Scottish 
Guard of France (1448-1830), as whose 
Colonel, Louis XI gave them the 
Virgin Mary. 

Vbegin Queen, The: Elizabeth (1558- 
1603), Queen of England. 

Virginia fmoe. As crooked as a : uneven. 
Fences in Virginia axe said to zigzag 
with the soil. 

Viridaia fence. To make a: to walk 
unevenly. 

Virginilms pnedsqtue (Lot,, for girls and 
boys) : that which need not be con- 
cealed from children. 

Virtue of a necessity. To make a : to do 
apparently of one's own free will 
that whi& one cannot avoid dmng. 
[Jerome, Adoarsus Rub., Ill, 2 ; 
Chaucer, Troylus, IV, 1586 (14th cent.) 

Virtues; The Seven : faith, hope, charity, 
prudence, jusiioe, fortitude, temper- 
ance. 

ViteJlias, A : a glutton. After Vitellius 
(15-69), Rom. emperor. 

Vicmvins, The English: Inigo Jones 
^572-1652). After Marcus Vitruvius 
Pollio (fl. 15 B.C.), a great Rcun. 
architect and engineer. 

Vitus’s dance* St. : sea St. Vitus. 

Viva voce {Med. Lai., with the living 
voice) : orally. [W. Clarke (1581)] 


Vogue la galftre (Fr., the galley row 
out) : go on whatever the result 1 
Voice in . . To have a : to have some 
influence in . . [RoHs of Parliament, 
IV, 479 (1433)] ^ ^ , 

Vde, To go the : to run ^at risks to 
win a prize. A cardplaynig metaphor. 
Pcott, Antiquary, IV (1816)] 

Volde, A la (Pr.) : at random. 

Voltaire, The German : (z) Johann WoU- 
Mg von Goethe (1749-1838) ; (2) 
ChiStoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813). 
After Voltaire (1694-1778) , Fr. philoso- 
pher, historian and man of letters. 
Vclfcaire, !l^e Polish : Ignatius Erasicki 
(1774-1801). 

Voltake, The Russian : Alexander 
Sumorokow (i727”77)- 
Votte &oe, A {Ital., voUa faccia, turn- 
face): a reversal of policy or con- 
duct. 

Volume, The Christian : the New Testa- 
ment. [Bums, Coiter^s Saturday 
Night, XV (1785)] 

Volume, The saered : the Bible. 

Volumes, To speak : of .ihe eyes, to 
suggest most significantly. [Shelley, 
Zastrossi, IV (1810)] 

Voodooism • a system of superstition 
prevalent among the negroes of North 
America and the West Indies. Prob- 
ably corruption of Ft., Vaudois, 
Waldensian, a generic name for 
^reties. 

Voortrekkeis : the Boers who took 
part in the Great Trek of 1836-7. 
Vox pppuli (Lot,, the vmoe of the people) : 
public opinion ; rumour. A contrac- 
tion of the Lat. maxim, * Vox populi, 
vox Dei.' [Skelton, Works (i55ofl 
Vox popidi vox Dei {Lot., the voice ox the 
people is the voice of God) : a sugges- 
tion that the people united or m a 
majority is always right. The phrase 
was used as the text by Simon Mepham, 
Archbp. of Canterb^, of a sermon 
preached on the occasion of the 
coronation of Edward III (1327)- 
[William of Malmesbury, De Gesiis 
Pontificum (12th cent.)] 

Vox at pzaeterea nihil {Lot., a voice and 
nothing else) : sound or words and 
nothing else. [Plutarch, Apotheg-- 
nuOaiBuTtoa, Anatomy ofMOancholy : 
To the Reader (i6zi}] 

VuloEUi, A : (i) a blacksmith ; (2) a lame 
person. After Vulcan, the god of fire 
and metal-working, who was l^e. 
Vulgaie, HWie : Jerome's lat. version of 
the Bible, Grig, any early Lat. or 



Wages] 355 

Grk. version of the Bible. Lat., 
Editio vulgata, a published edition or 
one made available to the common 
people. 


Wages of sin, The : death. [Romans, 
vi, 23] 

Waggon Boy, The : Thomas Corwin 
(1794-1865), Amer. statesman and 
orator, . who as a lad conveyed a 
waggon-load of provisions to General 
W. H. Harrison, at the time engaged 
in hostilities with the Indians. 

Waggon to a star, To hitch one’s : to 
attach oneself to a lofty ideal. 
[Emerson, Civilization (1870)] 

Waggoner, A : a book of sea-charts. 
After the Baron von Waegenaar’s 
Speculum Nauticum, 

Waldenses ; Waldensians : German 
religious reformers. After their 
founder, Pierre Waldo of Lyons 

(d. 1179).. 

Walhalla : see Valhalla. 

Walk the chalk. To : to behave properly 
and soberly. Orig. Amer., to walk 
along a chalked line in order to prove 
one*s sobriety. 

Walk one’s chalks, To : to decamp. 

Walk the hospitals. To : to study the 
practice of medicine or surgery in a 
hospital. 

Walk Spanish, To : see Spanish. 

Walk-over, A : success in a contest in 
which the rivalry is merely nominal ; 
as in a horse-race that can be won by 
walking. 

Walker’s bus, To go by : to walk. A pun. 

Walking delegate, A : a trade union 
official whose function it is to inspect 
the conditions of work, etc., in 
different factories. ’ 

Walking encyclopaedia, A : a person who 
possesses accurate knowledge on many 
subjects. 

Walking gentleman, A : an actor whose 
principal function is to look the part 
of a gentleman or nobleman. 

Walking part, A : a subordinate part in 
a play that needs little beyond presence 
on the scene. 

Wall between. To have but a : to be 
divided only by a small shade of 
difference. 

Wall, To drive to the : to force into a 
desperate position. [Heywood, Pro- 
verbes (1546)] 


[War 

Wall, To go to the : to be pushed aside. 
[Mucedorus, 1045-8 (1598)] 

Wall Street : the Amer. money market. 
From the n^e of the street in New 
York in which the principal financial 
houses in the U.S. are situated. 

Wall of . . To take the : to take 
preference of . . In allusion to the 
time when gutters ran down the middle 
of the streets, and the nearer to the 
wall, the less the chance of being 
splashed. [Shakespeare, Romeo and 
Juliet, I, i (1591-3)] 

Wall to . . To give the : [Thersites, 
150-1 (1537)] previous entry. 

Wall, To have the : [Lyly, Endimion, 
V, ii {1591)- See previous entry. 

Walls, Wiihin four : in a room. 

Walls of a nation. The : (i) soldiers ; 
(2) the sea. The phrase appears in 
both senses in Burton, Anatomy of 
Melancholy i To the Reader (1621). 

Walls, Wooden ? 555 Wooden. 

Wallah, Competition : see Competition 
Wallah. 

Wallflowers : ladies at dances who fail 
to secure partners and are conse- 
quently constrained to sit against the 
wall. 

Wallop, To : to thrash. After Sir John 
Wallop (c. 1490-1551), who thoroughly 
defeated the Fr. fleet in 1514. 

Walpur^ Night : the witches* Sabbath ; 
the night of the 30th of April im- 
mediately precedingSt.Walpurgis* Day. 

Waltham’s calf, As wise as: utterly 
foolish. In allusion to the supposed 
story of the calf that ran nine miles 
to be suckled by a bull. [Skelton, 
Colyn Clout, 81 1 (1520)] 

Walton, An Isaac : a person devoted to 
angling. After the author of The 
Compleat Angler (1593-1683). 

Wandering Jew, The : the legendary 
person who struck or insulted Christ 
when on his way to execution and was 
condemned by the victim ' Thou shalt 
wander on the eairth till I return.' 

Wanion, With a {Saxon, wanung, 
detriment) : with a vengeance. [Lati- 
mer, Sermons (1549)] 

Warhorse, An old : a veteran. 

War to the knife : hostility without 
cessation or moderation. * War even 
to the knife ' was the response of 
Palafox, the Governor of Saragossa, 
when summoned by the French to 
surrender in 1808. 

War is over. To biing one’s machines 
aftmr the : see Bring. 



War] 356 

War against war, The: the European 
War of 1914-18, justified by some as 
a war that would render all future 
wars impossible. 

Wars of the Roses, The : see Roses. 

Wardoor Street En glish ; pseudo-archaic 
English. After Wardour Street, 
London, where imitation antiquities 
are purchaseable. 

War-paint : full dress. In allusion to 
the paintings with which Amer.- 
Indians used to adorn their faces 
when about to depart for war. 

Warm reception, A : (i) a hostile recep- 
tion : (2) a hearty welcome. 

Warming pan, A : one who holds an 
office temporarily until another is 
ready to occupy it. 

Warming-pans, Eie : the Jacobites. 
So-called from the belief that the Old 
Pretender was not the child of James 
II and Marie d*Este, but had been 
brought to the palace in a warming pan. 

Warrior Queen, The : Boadicea, Queen 
of the Iceni. 

Wash the crow, To : to act foolishly and 
to no purpose. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Wash one’s dirty linen in public, To : to 
quarrel in public over domestic 
disputes ; to publish in the course of 
a quarrel, that of which one should be 
ashamed. 

Wash an Efhiop white. To : see Wash 
the Ethiopian. 

Wash the Etiiiopian, To : to act foolishly 
and uselessly. From an ancient Grk. 
proverb. 

Wash one’s hands of . . To : to refuse 
aU responsibility for or interest in . • 

In edlusion to Matthew, xxvii, 24, 

' When Pilate saw that he could pre- 
vail nothing. . . he took water and 
washed his hands before the multitude, 
saying, I am innocent of the blood of 
this just person,’ [Chapman, Blinde 
Beggar of AUmndria (1578)] 

Wash one’s sheep with scalding water. 

To : to act foolishly and to no purpose. 
From an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Washington, Bird of : see Bird. 

Washington of Colombia, The: Simon 
Bolivar (1785-1831). After George 
Washington (1732-99), the leader of 
the Amer. Revolution. 

Washington, The Second : see Second. 

Wasp’s nest, A : a place on entering into 
which one obtains a hot reception. 

Water capital (stock), To : to increase 
the number of shares in a company 


[Waterloo 

and its nominal capital, without in- 
creasing the wealth or real capital of 
the company. 

Water on . . To throw cold : to criticize 
adversely or otherwise to dissuade 
against . . 

Water, Court Holy: promises without 
performance. 

Water, In deep : see Waters, In deep. 

Water of Dirce, As cold as the: in 
allusion to the spring near Thebes into 
which, according to Grk. legend, the 
murdered body of Dirce, the wife of 
Lycus, was thrown by her step-sons. 

Water off a duck’s back. To run like : of 
an argument, etc., to leave a person 
quite unaffected. 

Water, Of the first : see Diamond. 

Water, To keep one’s head above: to 
keep solvent. A swimming metaphor. 

Water, Not to hold : of an argument or 
statement, to be unable to survive 
criticism. [Mabbe, Guzman, II, 79 
(1623) ; Look About You, I, 20 (1600)] 

Water, In hot : in trouble. 

Water on one’s mill. To be : to be a 
source of good fortune. [Weldon, 
Court of King James (1650)] 

Water, To make one’s mouth : to arouse 
a feeling of envy. [Peter Martyr 

(1555)] 

Water of Nouacris, As cold as the : the 
waterfall near Nonacris in Arcadia has 
been suggested as the original of the 
River Styx, which in Grk. mjrthology 
flowed around the abode of the dead. 

Water Poet, The : John Taylor (1580- 
1654), who was a Thames water- 
man. 

Water in the sea. To seek : see Seek. 

Water, To wash one’s sheep with scalding: 
see Wash. 

Water in a sieve, To carry : see Draw 
water. 

Water with a sieve. To draw : see Draw. 

Water in the Thames, To cast: see 

Thames. 

Water, To write in : to make an 
ephemeral record. [Sophocles, Frag- 
ments, 694 (742 N) ; Shakespeare, 
Henry VIII, IV, i (1612-3)] 

Waters, In deep ; in difficulties. A 
swimming metaphor. 

Waters, The Father of: see Father. 

Waters, To fish in troubled : see Fish. 

Water-fox, The : the carp. [Walton, 
The Compleat Angler, ch. 17 (1653)] 

Wai^loo, A : (i) a final and decisive 
victory. In allusion to the final defeat 
of Napoleon by Wellington at the 



Water^-sbeep] 357 [Weissnichtwo 

Battle of Waterloo in 1815 ; a I Web of life, The ; man's destiny. In 
final defeat. allusion to the web woven by the 


Water-sheep, The : the roach. [Walton, 
The Compleat Angler (1653)] 

Waves, To number the : see Number. 
Wax in the ears. To have : to be densely 
stupid. [Shakespeare, Troilus and 
Cressida, V, i, 5 (1609)] 

Wax fat and To : to prosper and 
become heedless of one's responsi- 
bilities. [DeuL, xxxii, 15] 

Wax in the hands of . . To be : to be 
easily influenced or controlled by .. 
Way in the world. To make one’s : see 
Make. 

Weak as water. As : [Ascham, 
Toxophilus, Pt. I, A {1545)] 

Weaker sex. The : woman. [Tacitus, 
Annals, Bk. Ill, 34] 

Weaker vessel. The ; woman ; a wife. 
[I Peter, iii, 7] 

Weakest goes to the wall. The : in allusion 
to the time when there were no pave- 
ments to the streets and gutters ran 
along both sides close to the walls. 
[Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 
17-22 (1592)] 

Wealth of Ormuz and of Ind : Hormuz 
was a city on the Persian Gulf, famous 
as late as the i6th cent, for its 
wealth. Ind is a poetic form of India. 
[Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. II, 2 
(1657)] 

Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve. To : 

to expose one's feelings to the pubhc. 
In allusion to the former practice of 
wearing a lady's favour on one's 
sleeve. 

Wear, The worse for; worn out, or 
almost so. 

Wear the yellow. To: to be jealous. 

ILook About You, I, xxviii (1600)] 
Weasel asleep. To catch a : to catch a 
sharp person napping. 

Weather eye open. To keep a : to keep a 
shaip look out. A sailor looks in the 
direction from which the wind comes 
in order to foresee the weather. 
Weather a storm. To : to pass success- 
fully through a crisis. 

Weathercock, A; a person of change- 
able mind or disposition. [Chaucer, 
Balade Agaynst Women XJnconstaunt 
(14th cent.)] 

Weather-gage of a person. To get the ; 

to obtain advantage over a person. 
A nautical metaphor. 

Weaver’s beef of Colchester : sprats. In 
allusion to their prevalence at Col- 
chester. 


Fates, according to mythology. 

Web by the thread. To know the : to 
judge the whole by the part. 

Wedding, The China : the twentieth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Crystal: the fifteenth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Diamond: the sixtieth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Golden : the fiftieth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Silver: the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Tin : the tenth anni- 
versary of a wedding. 

Wedding, The Wooden : the fifth 
anniversary of a wedding. 

Wedge, The thin end of the : an 
apparently unimportant beginning 
that may lead to very important 
consequences. 

Weed, The (Divine) : tobacco. [Dekker, 
The GulVs Hornbook, ch. 4 (1609)] 

Weed of Worcester, The: the ehn, 
which is very plentiful in Worcester- 
shire. 

Weeds, A widow’s : the costume worn 
by a widow. Ang.-Sax., woed, a 
garment. 

Weeping Cross, To come home by : to 
repent of an undertaking. There 
were three places called Weeping Cross 
— ^between Oxford and Banbury, near 
Stafiord, and near Shrewsbury — 
apparently from crosses erected for the 
devotions of penitents. [Lyly, 
Euphues and His England (1580) ; 
Gosson, Schoole of Abuse (1579)] 

Weeping Philosopher, The: Heraclitus 
of Ephesus (c. 540-475 B.C.) 

Weeping Saint, The: St. Swithin. In 
allusion to the tradition that if it rains 
on his day (July 15) it will rain for 
forty days thereafter. 

Weigh one’s words. To : to speak 
deliberately. 

Weighed in the balance and found 
wanting, To Ite: to be tested and 
found to fail. [Daniel, v, 27] See 
Tried in the balance. 

Weight To carry : to have influence. 

Weird, To dree one’s [Scot.) ; to sufier 
one's fate. Saxon, wyrd, fate. 

Weird Sisters, The ; see Sisters. 

Weissnichtwo (Germ., I know not 
where) : a non-existent place. In- 
vented by Thomas Carlyle in Sartor 
Resartus (1833-4)] 



Welch] 

Welch ambassador, The : the cuckoo, 
which migrates from the west. Also 
because it announces the immigration 
into England every spring of the 
Welsh agricultural labourers. 

Welcome as flowers in May, As : fully 
welcome. [J. C. Clarke, Parcemio- 
logia Angloiatina (1638)] 

Well of l^glish Undefiled : Geoffrey 
Chaucer. So-called by Edmund 
Spenser in The Faerie Queen (1590-6). 

Well at the river, To dig the : see Dig. 

Welsh ambassador. The : the cuckoo. 
See Welch ambassador. 

Welsh cousin, A : a distant relative. 
In allusion to the Welsh enthusiasm 
for the science of genealogy. 

Welsh main, A : a battle royal. 

Welsh mortgage, A : a mortgage in which 
no date of redemption is fexed. 

Welsh rabbit, A : a dish consisting of 
melted cheese on toast. 

Welsh Sh^espeare, The : Edward 
Williams (1745-1826). 

Wen, The Monstrous : London. A wen 
is a tumour on the surface of the body. 
The origin of the term is attributed to 
William Cobbett [Rural Rides (1823)] 

Wertherism : romantic sentimentalism. 
After the hero of Goethe's Sorrows of 
Werther, 

Wessex : Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Wilt- 
shire, Somersetshire, Surrey, Glouc- 
estershire and Buckinghamshire. 
Formerly the Kingdom of Wessex. 

West, To go : to die. A Gaelic idiom, 
perhaps from Suas which in Gaelic 
means both west and upward. 

Western Church, The : the Rom. Catholic 
Church after iie schism of 729. 

Western Empire, The : the Rom. Empire 
after the separation from the Eastern 
Empire in 395. 

Western States, The: the states, apart 
from the Southern States, west of the 
Alleghany Mountains. 

Wet blanket, A : see Blanket. 

Wet finger. To do a thing with a : to do 
anything with ease. Apparently from 
the habit of wetting one’s finger to 
turn over the page. [Heywood, 
Proverbes (1546)] 

WhamcliUe Meeting, A : a meeting of 
railway shareholders convened for the 
purpose of promoting a bill in parlia- 
ment, AfterLord Whamclifie (1827- 
99), railway chairman. 

What’s what. To know : to be mentally 
alert and well-informed. [Skelton, 
Coly 7 t Cloute, 1 . 1106 (early i6th cent.)] 


358 [Whistle 

Wheel of Fortune, The: fortune. In 
early representations of the goddess 
Fortune, she was represented with a 
wheel in her hand, as an emblem of the 
vicissitudes of which she was the source. 

Wheels within wheels : a complication. 
[Ezekiel, i, 16] 

Whigs : one of the two great Eng. 
political parties, the predecessors of the 
Liberals and the successors of the 
Roundheads. After the Reform Act of 
1832 the designation began' to pass out 
of general use. From Whiggamor, a 
cattle-driver in the south-west of 
Scotland. 

Whigs bathing and walk away with their 
clothes. To catch the : in politics, to 
appropriate the measures or policy of 
the other party. Phrase coined by 
Lord Beaconsfield (1804-81) in 
referring to Sir. R. Peel’s government 
in a debate on the opening of letters 
in the Post Office (Feb. 28, 1845). 

Whimsicals, The : the Eng. Tories who 
supported the House of Hanover on 
the death of Queen Anne. 

Whip, A : the parliamentary official 
whose function is to secure the atten- 
dance in Parliament of members of his 
party. In a famous division in the 
House of Commons in 1768, the govern- 
ment in power took measures to secure 
the attendance of supporters as far 
distant as Paris and the North of 
S Gotland . Their industry led Edmund 
Burke to use a hunting term, whipping 
in, to describe their action. 

Whip-dog Day: Oct. i8th; on which a 
dog is once said to have snatched up 
the pyx and eaten it. 

Whip-hand of . . To have the : to have 
control over .. [Vanbrugh, Msop, 
V, i (1697)] 

Whip with Six Lashes (Stiings}, The : 
the Statute of the Six Articles, passed 
in 1539, which made the denial of,. 
Transubstantiation a capital offence. 

Whipping-boy, A : a boy kept to receive 
chastisement whenever a prince was 
at fault. 

Whirlwind, To reap the : see Wind. 
Whiskey Iffisurrection (Rebellion), The : 
the Pennsylvania Rising of 1794 
against the attempt to suppress the 
illicit distillation of spirits. 

Whistle down the wind. To : to defame 
a person. 

Whistle, To wet one’s : to drink. 
[Chancer, Canterbury Tales : Reeve* s 
Tale, 4155 (1386)] 



White] 359 [Whiteboys 


White bird, The : conscience. According 
to the Moslems-. 

White Caps : an Indiana (Amer.) secret 
society of criminals. 

White choker : see Choker. 

White Clergy : Russ, parish priests, as 
distinct from the monastic priesthood, 
the Black Clergy. 

White Coat, A : an Austrian soldier. 
After the colour of his uniform. 

White Company, The : (i) a band of 
assassins organized by Folquet, bp. of 
Toulouse in the 13th cent, for the 
murder of heretics ; (2) a band of 

freebooters wearing white crosses led 
by Bertrand du GuescUn in 1366 ; 
(3) a band of adventurers, led by Sir 
John Hawkwood, who ravaged 
northern Italy in the 14th cent. 

White Cross Knights : the Knights 
Hospitallers. 

White crow, A : a great rarity. Albino 
crows are occasionally met with. 
For ' rarer than a white crow * see 
Juvenal, Satires, VII, 202. 

White Czar, The : the Czar of Russia. 
Properly the Czar of Muscovy, from 
his white robes. 

White Day, A ; a lucky day ; a day to 
be remembered with pleasure. In 
allusion to the Rom. practice of 
marking lucky days in the calendar 
with white chalk. 

White Elephant, A : a gift which instead 
of being useful is a source of trouble 
or expense to the recipient. In 
allusion to the practice of the earlier 
kings of Siam of presenting those 
whom they wished to injure with 
white elephants, which on account of 
their sacredness were a source of great 
expense but could not be put to any 
use. 

White Elephant, The Land of the : Siam. 
See White elephant. 

White Ensign, The: the flag of the 
Brit. Navy. 

White Past, The : the Day of Atonement. 
In allusion to the costume worn in the 
S3magogues. 

White Feather, To show the : to display 
cowardice. A white feather is never 
found in a game cock. 

White Flag, !Hie : the military signal of 
surrender. 

White Friars, The : the Carmelites. 
After their white costume. 

White Harvest, A : a late harvest, 
when the ground is white with hoar 
frost. 


White Horse : cowardice. After the 
tradition that James II fled from the 
Battle of the Boyne on a white horse. 

White Horse, The : the 3rd Dragoon 
Guards. 

White Horses : waves crested with foam. 

White House, The : the Presidency of 
the U.S. After the name of the 
official residence of the presidents. 

White Lady of Ireland, The : a banshee. 

White League, The : a military organiza- 
tion formed in Louisiana after the con- 
clusion of the Civil War, to secure the 
supremacy of the white inhabitants. 

White lie, A : an untruth that causes no 
harm. 

White as a lily. As : pure white. 
[Propertius, II, iii, 9-10; Chaucer, 
Knight* s Tale, 1320 (14th cent.)] 

White magic : innocent conjuring. 

White man, To be a : to prove oneself 
straightforward and honest. 

White man’s burden, The : the supposed 
responsibility of the white races for 
the welfare of the more backward ones. 
After the title of a poem in Rudyard 
Kipling, The Five Nations (1903). 

White man’s grave, The : Sierra Leone. 
In allusion to its former insalubrity. 

White as milk. As : pure white. [Ovid, 
Heroides, XVI, 249-50 (1300)] 

White moments of life. The : periods of 
happiness. In allusion to the white 
chalk with which the Romans used to 
mark lucky days in their calendar. 

White night. A: a sleepless night. 
From the Fr. phrase. Passer une nuit 
blanche. 

White Paper, A : an Eng. government 
publication of less extent than a blue 
book (q.v.). 

White Ofueen, The : Mary, Queen of 
Scots, who wore white mourning for 
her husband. Lord Damley. 

White Rose and the Bed, The : the Eng. 
royal houses of York and Lancaster. 

White sheet. To wear the : see Sheet. 

White slave, A : a prostitute ; esp. one 
forced into the calling against her will. 
White stone. Days m^ed with a: 
happy days. See White moments of 
life. 

White as the sun. As : [Hy. Constable, 
Damelus* Song to His Diaphe^iia 
(1600)] 

White as a swan. As: pure white. 
[Virgil, Eclogues, VII, 37-40 ; Alison, 
St. 3 (1300)] 

Whiteboys : Irish Levellers {q.v') 

formed c. 1761. On account of the 



vsnwt^am 360 [Wfflow 


white shirts they wore outside of their 
other garments. 

WhitehaU : the permanent adminis- 
tration of the British Empire.^ After 
the street in London in which the 
principal government ofhces are 
situated. 

Whitened (Whited) sepulchre* A : some- 
thing outwardly fair, but inwardly 
corrupt. [Maithew, xxiii, 27] 
WMtewBSh, To : to rehabilitate ; to 
restore respectability to .. [Peter 
Hndar, Farewell Odes, Ode VI (17^^)] 
Whitsun Ale i a festival held at Whitsun- 
tide at which much ale is drunk. 

Who Who Ministry, The : Lord Derby’s 
Ministry of 1 852. Few of the membera 
had held oflBlce before and when their 
names were recounted by Lord Derby 
to the Duke of Wellington, it is said 
that the Duke, who was deaf, received 
each of the unfaxniliax names with the 
question * Who ? Who ? * 

Who’s Who, A : a handbook of con- 
temporary biography. After the 
publication ‘ vhio’s Who.* 
Who’s who. To know: to be able to 
distinguish celebrities. 

Whole hog. To go the : see Hog. 

Whole «?kin on one’s. hones. To keep a : 

to avoid injury. 

Whole-hogger : one who adopts a poUcy 
thoroughly. Applied to those who 
were prepared to adopt Joseph 
Chamberlain’s Fiscal Policy as a whole, 
who were prepared to go the * whole 
hog/ 

Whore of Babylon, The: the Rom. 
Catholic Church. [Sir 'Hios. Over- 
bury, Characters : A Precisian (i6i6)] 
Why-not, A : an arbitrary proceeding, 
as that of a person who furnishes no 
reason but in response to enquiries 
replies only. Why not ? [Butler, 
Budibras, II, h, 529 (1664) ’• Har- 
ington, Nugas Aniiquae, II, 144 
(1600)] 

Wicked unde, A : a relative who treats 
a child dependent on him with cruelty. 
After a character in the nursery-tale of 
the Babes in the Wood. 

Wide apart as the poles. As : widely 
separated. [Sir. Thos Browne, 
Religio Medici, Pt I (1643)] 
Wide-aw£&e, A : a soft felt hat, which 
having no nap is therefore always 
wideawake. 

Widow of Windsor, The : Queen Victoria, 
who spent much of her widowhood at 
Windsor. 


Widow’s CSrase, The : the property of 
the poor, wliich although apparently 
insignificant yet manages to hie 
adequate. After the miracle of the 
widow and the oil narrated in II Kings, 
iv. 

Widow’s Man, A : an imaginary sailor 
borne on the books whose pay, etc., is 
appropriated to Greenwich Hospital. 

Wigs on tile Green : violent disagree- 
ment. In allusion to the violent dis- 
cussions in the Irish parliament at 
the end of the i8th cent., when it was 
the fashion for the members to wear 
wigs and the parliament met at St. 
Stephen’s Green. 

Wild oat : reckless ; unsound ; esp. in 
commercial or financial matters. 
Apparently from the device on the 
notes of a Michigan bank which failed 
for a large amount, the failure leading 
to failures on the part of other banls 
also of unsound character. 

Wild Geese : Irish followers of Sarsfield, 
the commander of the Irish Brigade 
with the French Army in the 17th and 
1 8th cents. 

Wild goose diase, A : a useless pursuit. 
A ^d goose is ve:^ difficult to catch 
and when caught is found not to he 
worth the pursuit. [Cervantes, Bon 
Quixote, Pt. I, Bk. Ill, ch. ii ; Shakes- 
peare, Romeo and Juliet, II, iv 

(1591-3)] 

Wild oats. To sow one’s : see Sow. 

Wildtire, like : with great rapidity. As 
fire spreads. [Webster, The Duchess 
of Malfi, III, ii (1623)] 
Wilhelzustrasse, The : the German 
Foreign Office. After the street in 
which it is situated. 

Wilkes, As deep as : very cunning. 
Probably a corruption of wilks (peri- 
winkles). 

Win, Our : William Shakespeare. 

Will for the deed. To take the : to accept 
the intention for the action. 

Williaxa tire Silent : William, Prince of 
Orange (1533-^4). 

WiBiam the Talkative: William II 
(b. 1859), Emperor of Germany. 

WiBiam Tell, A : a super-patriot. After 
the legendary Swiss patriot of that 
name. 

WiBow, To handle the : to bat in cricket. 
In allusion to the wood of which cricket 
bats are made. 

WiBow, To wear the: to go into 
mourning, esp. for a sweetheart or 
bride. [Harpelus Complaint of 



wniy] 


361 


PhiUidaes Lous Besiowsd on Corin, U. 

^will I, nill I; whether I 
will or not. Nill =* not to be willing. 
[Eich. Edwards, Damon and Piihias, 

1. 1509 (1567)3 ^ 

Wilmot Frovlgo, The : an amendment to 
a bill introduced into the U.S. Congress 
in 1846, whereby slavery was pro- 
hibited in all territory to be acquired 
from Mexico. The amendment was 
introduced by David Wilmot (1814-68). 

Win the hcnnn or lose the saddle* To : to 
win double or quits. 

Wfiad of .. To get: to learn of 
[Sheridan, The Rivals, IV, iii (1775)3 

Whidv To measure the : to underta^ a 
futile occupation. [Lyly, Euphues : 
Anatomy of Wit (i57?)3 


Wind with a het^ To oaich : sm Catch. 

Wind* To raise the : (i) to borrow or 
otherwise obtain money when in need ; 
(2) to cause excitement or a disturb- 
ance. 

Wind and reap the whirlwind. To sow the : 

to be punished automatically manifold 
for one’s misdeeds. [Hosea, viii, 7] 

Wind, To sail near the : to take great 
risks (esp. of transgressing the law). 
[Sir Thos. Wyatt, How to Use the 
Court (1557)3 

Wind to the shorn lamh* To temper the : 
see Temper the wind. 

Wind* Something in the : something in 
prospect. pBen Jonson, Case Is 
Altered, III, iii (1609)] 

Wind of . . To take (gain) the : to get 
the upper hand of • • [Bacon, 
Essays : Of CounseU (1625)] 

Wind out of the sails* To take the ; to 
deprive a person of his justifiably 
expected opportunity; suddenly io 
forestall a person. 

Wind np. To get one’s : to get excited, 
frightened ; to fly into a temper. 

Wind and water, To hit hetwe^: to 
demolish an opponent at one bl(^. 
A nautical metophor. Lit., to strike 
a ship ou the water line, a vulnerable 
spot. [Burke, Speech on American 
TaxaHon (1774)] 

Winds* To he scattered to the foni : to 
be absolutely irrecoverable. 

WindmiUs, To fight with (tilt against) : 
see Tilt. 

Windmills in one’s head. To have : to 
have strange fancies. [Cervantes, Don 
Quixote, 1 , viii] 

Wmdow Ta^ A : a tax on windows 
enforced in Engh^d from i695 ^ 1851. 


Window* To put all one’s goods in the 
firani: to make a great show while 
leaving little of solid behind. 

Wine hack in the hottls, To put the : to 
undo what has been done. 

Wine in old bottles, New : see New. 

Wine of one ear : corruptioa of wine of 
one year ; wine of the previous year's 
vintage. 

Wine month. The ; October, the period 
of the wine harvest. 

Wing, To take : to fly away, depart. 

Wi^ Under one’s : under one’s protec- 
tion. 

Wings of, To clip the: to take steps 
to restrain. [Cicero, Ad Atticum, 

IV, ii, 5; Thos. Campion, Airs, II 

(1613)3 

Winged Boy, The: Cupid, the god of 
love, depicted as a boy with wings. 

Winged fiBet* With : with great rapidity. 
[Jerome, Bpktolae, IV, i] 

Winged rooks : cheats who have been 
outwitted. 

Wink at . . To : to pretend not to see. 
[Acts, xvii, 30 ; hiiee Wanton (1560)] 

Wihks, Forty : a short sleep during the 
day. 

Winter of one’s life (age). The : old age. 
[Thos. Lodge, Rosalind (1590)] 

Winter BSng; The : the Elector Fr^erick 

V, King of Bohemia for the winter of 
1619-20. 

Winter Qneen, The : Elizabeth, wife of 
the Winter King (^.n.). 

'V^bce Age, The : the present age, that of 
the telegiaph and telephone wires. 

Wlr^pnller, A: a political intriguer. 
See Pull the strings. 

Wisdom of many and the wit of QttA The : 
a proverb. According to Lord John 
(Earl) Russell EngHsh 

statesman. 

Wisdom tooth. The: the third molar 
tooth in each jaw which appears 
between the zTth and the 25th year. 

Wise after the event, To be : to gain 
knowled^ when it is no longer of mu<ji 
value. C^le, Microcosmography, II ; 
A Young Man (1633)] 

Wise as Doctor Dodipo]], As: sss Doctor 
Dodipdil. 

Wise as a goa1« As : in allusioa to the 
appearance of wisdom given by the 
goat’s beard. 

Win (Sing}, The : ICing Solomoa, 
proverbial for his wisdom. 

Wme as file Sfoyor of Banbnry, As: 
foolish. In allusion to Sir William 
Curtis. Mayor of Banbury, who in- 



Wise] 


362 


[Woman 


insisted that Henry III reigned before 
Henry II. 

Wise Men of the East, The : the Magi who 
visited the newly-bom Christ. 

Wise Men of Qrwce, The: Solon of 
Athens, Chilo of Sparta, Thales of 
Miletos, Bias of Priene, Cleobulos of 
Lindos, Pittacos of Mitylene, and 
Peiiander of Corinth. 

Wise as one went. To retain as: to 
pursue a fruitless errand. [Jno. 
Heywood, The Four 0 *s, 11 . 65-6 

(1540)] 

Wise as the women of Mnngret, As : 
after a legend regarding ceri^n monhs 
of Mungret, near Limerick, who, 
dressed as women, astonished some 
visitors from Cashel with their know- 
ledge. 

Wise as a woodcock, As : stupid. In 
allusion to the proverbial foolishness 
of woodcocks. [Hickscorner, 11. 815-7 
(1520)] See also Foolish as a wood- 
cock, As. 

Wisest, hxightc^ meanest of manki nd. 
The : Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam 
(1561-1626). So-called by Pope. 
[Fssay on Man, Epist. 4, 1 . 282 
(1732-4)3 

Wisest Fool in Christendom, The : King 
James I of England. So-called by 
Henry IV of France on the occasion 
of the English alliance with Spain. 

Wits about one. To have one’s : to be 
mentally alert. [Dekker and Webster, 
Westward Ho, III, ii {1607)] 

Wits’ end. At one’s : unable to any 
means of escape from a difficulty. 

K ood, Proverbes (1546)] 

live by one’s : to make one’s 
living by sharp, not always honest, 
practices, {Knock to Know a Knave, 
U. 768-70 (1594)1 

\^tch of Wdkey, As wiciked as the : see 
Wokey. 

Witches’ Sabbath, A : a supposed mid- 
night meeting of witches, demons, etc., 
under the presidency of Satan. 
Witdiing hour of midziight. The : mid- 
night, when witches were supposed to 
congregate. 

Wlthi^ To be bom at little: to be 
charged with being silly. A pun on 
'wit.' 

Withers are onwrang. Our : we are un- 
afEected unfavourably. The metaphor 
is derived from a g^ed horse, whose 
withers are the ridge between the 
shoulder-bones. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, 
III, ii (1602-3)] 


Without encumbrance : haying no 
children. A euphuism used in respect 
of persons applying for living-in 
situations, etc. [Harriet Meirtinean, 
Three Ages (1833)] 

l^tty as a haddoi^ As: downright 
foolish. [Hickscomer (1520)] 

Wizard of Menlo Park, The : Thos. Alva 
Edison (b, 1847), Amer. inventor, 
whose laboratoiy is at Menlo Park, 
New Jersey. 

Wizard of the North, The : Sir Walter 
Scott. 

Wokey, As wicked as the witch of: 
Wokey Hole is a cavern in Somerset 
supposed to have been the haunt of 
a witch who was transformed into 
stone. 

Wolf, To cry : to utter a premature or 
altogether unjustified cry of warning. 
In allusion to the fable of the shepherd 
boy who was continuaJly falsely crying 
' wolf ' in order to amuse himself, but 
whose cries were unheeded when a 
wolf ultimately appeared. 

Wolf &om the door. To keep the : to 
earn suffident to cover one’s minimum 
expenditure and thus keep dunning 
creditors (wolves) at a distance. 
[Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 1 . 1531 (1513)] 

Wolf by the ears, To hold a : to be in a 
situation equally dangerous to retain 
or to abandon. Phrase used by 
Augustus of his situation in Rome. 
[Suetonius, Tiberius, 25 ; The Meane 
Estate Is Best, U. 19-24 {^ 557)1 

Wolf, The Freshwater : the pike. 

Wolf among lambs, A : a rogue among 
the simple. From the early fable. 

Wolf Land: Ireland. So-called at the 
end of the 17th cent in the belief that 
wolves abounded there. 

Wolfin sheep’s dothing. A: a dangerous 
person who assumes the guise of 
harmlessness. From the fable. [I^y- 
wood, Proverbes (1546), ' A wolf in a 
lamb’s skin ' ; Matthew, vii, 15] 

Wolverine Stat^ The : Michigan, In 
allusion to the large num^r of its 
wolverines in the first period of its 
history. 

Women, The Nine Worthy: Minerva, 
Semiramis, Tomyris, Jael, Deborah, 
Judith, Britomart, Isabella of Aragon, 
Johanna of Naples. 

Woman, An old : see Old woman. 

Woman, To play the: (i) to weep; 
[Thos. Kyd. Jeronimo, Pt. I, 1 . 187 
(159X)] (2) to deceive. [Dekker and 
Webster, Westward Ho, IV, ii (1607)] 



Woman] 3^3 

Woman’s year, A : a leap year. In 
allusion to the privilege of women to 
ask marriage on those occasions. 
[Marston, Jack Drum’s Entertaine- 
merit, I, U. 165-7 (1616)] 

Wonder, An Eighth : a work of extra- 
ordinary mechanical ingenuity; an 
addition to the Seven Wonders of the 
World {q.v.). 

Wonder, The Eighth : the Palace of the 
Escurial at Toledo. 

Wonder of the World, The: (r) the 
Emperor Otto III ; (2) Frederick II, 
Emperor of Germany. 

Wonders of the World, The : See 
Seven Wonders of the World. 

Wonderful Doctor, The : Roger Bacon 

(1214-92). 

Wood, To be in a : to be perplexed. 
[Bacon, Essayes : Of Ambition (1625)] 

Wood, Not to cry (halloo) until one is 
out of the : to be certain of having 
escaped a danger only when one is 
quite clear of it. 

Wood for the trees, Not to be able to see 
the: to lose the larger view through 
being absorbed in the details. [Hey- 
wood, Proverhes (1546)] 

Woodcock, As foolish as a : Woodcocks 
were supposed to be physically — and 
therefore mentally — ^brainless. [Shake- 
speare, Taming of the Shrew, I, ii, 161 : 

* O this woodcock, what an ass it is! '] 

Wooden Horse, The : the scaffold. 
[Fuller, Holy and Profane State, IV, ii 
(1642)] See also Trojan horse. 

Wooden horse (mare). To ride the : to 
go on board ship. 

Wooden nutmegs : inhabitants of Con- 
necticut. In allusion to the tradition 
that the wooden nutmeg swindle 
originated in that state.^ 

Wooden spoon, A : a stupid person. In 
allusion to the former practice at 
Cambridge University of presenting a 
wooden spoon to the candidate who 
passed lowest in the Tripos. 

Wooden sword. To wear &e : to impede 
a sale by asking too high a price. In 
allusion to the wooden swords worn by 
professional fools. 

Wooden Walls of England, The : the 

British Navy. The phrase was first 
used by Thomas Lord Coventry, Lord 
Keeper of the Great Seal (157S-1540) 
in a speech to the Judges on 17th June, 
1635. The term * wooden walls ' in 
reference to warships was used pre- 
viously by the translator (probably 
William Phillip, fl. 1596-1619) of John 


[World 

Huyghen van Linschoten, Voyage to 
the East Indies (1598), and still earlier 
by Themistocles (c. 514-449 B.C.). 

Wooden Wedding, A : see Wedding. 

Wooden Wedge, The : the lowest in the 
classical tripos at Camb. Univ. After 
Wedgwood, the candidate who occu- 
pied that position in 1824 when the 
examination was instituted. 

Wool on an ass. To se^ : see Seek, 

Wool and come back shorn, To go for : to 
suffer the same punishment as one 
intended to inflict. [Cervantes, Don 
Quixote, 1 , 7] 

Wool on the back of . . To stick : to give 
presents to . . [Dekker and Webster, 
Westward Ho, II, ii (1607)] 

Woolgathering, To be : to be absent- 
minded ; i.e., capable of setting out to 
gather wool. [John Taylor, Wandering 
to See the Wonders of the West, p. i 

(1649)] ^ ^ 

Woolsack, The : (i) the seat 01 the Lord 
Chancellor as Chairman of the House 
of Lords ; {2) the offlce of Lord Chan- 
cellor. The seat was orig. literally 
stuffed with wool so as to remind the 
occupant of the staple trade of the 
country. 

Woolsadi^ To sit on the: to be Lord 
Chancellor of England. In allusion 
to the woolsack which is the seat 
of that dignitary in the House of 
Lords. 

Word for . . To take a person’s : to accept 
a person’s statement. [Life and 
Death of Jack Straw, III, 11 . 98-9 

(^ 593 )] ^ , 

Words, To eat one’s : see Eat. 

Words about . . To have : to have an angry 
dispute about . . [Rare Triumphs of 
Love and Fortune, I, 11 . 85-6 (1589)] 

Word-painting : a description of a scene 
in vivid or picturesque words. 

Work cut out. To have one’s : to have a 
difficult task in front of one. 

Work on the dead horse. To : see Horse. 

Work for the Roi de Frusse* To : see Roi 
de Prusse. 

World at one’s feet. To have the : to be 

at the opening of a career in which 
success is to be obtained apparently 

World, the FleSi and the Devil, The : 

the things of this world, pleasures and 
temptations to evil. [Chapman, 
Monsieur d* Olive, I, i (1606) ; Marston, 
Jacke Drum’s Enter tainement, II, 11 - 
249-52 {1601)] 

World grows honest. When the : never. 



World] 


364 


[TolEo-fellowa 


Worlds A of tii6 : one well 

acquainted with the wa3rs of the 
world. 

Woidd. Out of the : not in society. 
World and bis wife. All the : everybc^ 
without exception. [Jonathan Swift, 
Polite Conversation, III (1709)] 

Worm in one’s tongue. To have a : to be 
bitter in speech, can t an k erous. 
Worms, Food for : the dead. 

Worst of . . To have the : to be the loser 
in an argument or a contest. [_Second 
Maiden^s Tragedy, IV, i (1611)] 

Worth a groat; Not: of practic^y no 
value. [Poston Letters, No. 612 
(1469} ; Heywood, Proverbes (154^)] 
Wor& a baiiSnck, Not : of little value. 

[Heywood, Proverbes (X546)] 

Worthies, The IBne: three Gentiles 
(Hector, son of Piiam ; Alexander the 
Great; Julius Caesar), three Jews 

g oshua. Conqueror of Canaan ; 

avid. King of Israel ; Judas Macca- 
baeus), three Christians (Arthur, King 
of Britain; Charlemagne; Godfrey 
of Bouton). 

Wortilies of Iiandcm, The Sdne: Sm 
WilHam Walworth, fishmonger; Sir 
Henry Prichard, vintner ; Sir William 
Sevenoahe, grocer ; Sir Thomas 
White, merchant^tailor ; Sir John 
Bonham, mercer ; Sir Christopher 
Croker, vintner; Sir John Hawk- 
wood, merchant-tailor ; Sir Hugh 
Calvert, silk-weaver ; Sir Henry 
Maleveier, grocer. (According to 
Rich. Johnson.) 

Wound, The eterual : love. [Lucretius, 
De Her, Nai,, Bk. I, 11. 32-4 ; Pope, 
Messiah, 11. 47-8 (1712)] 

WzimideE; A : one who gains a place in 
the fir s t rfaag in the mathematical 
tripos at Camb. XJniv. Pbrom the 
period when the college exercises were 
termed * disputations.' 

Wiander, The Senior : the first in the 
class of Wranglm (7.V.) when tbie 
zdative position in tlm class was still 
indicated. 

Write in the sand. To : see Sand. 

Write on the suifiaoe of the sea. To : to 
act foolishly and to no purpose. Prom 
an ancient Grk. proverb. 

Write in water. To : see Water. 

Writhxg on the wall. The : a warning of 
impending danger. [Daniel, v] 
Wrong box. In the: in jeopardy. 
[Abraliam Fleming, Translaium of 
Cains on Dogs (1575)] 

Wrong shopb The : see Shop. 


Xantippe, A : a sodding woman. After 
the wife of Socrates. 


Yahoo, A : a low degraded man. After 
a monstrous race described in Swift, 
Gulliver* s Travels (1726). 

Yaxikeeb A : a slang term for an inhabi- 
tant of the U.S. First used by British 
soldiers in the War of Independence. 
Possibly an Indian corruption of 
Anglais, term by which the Indians, 
through their contact with their Fr. 
allies, designated the Englirii. In the 
U.S. the term is applied only to resi- 
dents in or natives of the NewEngland 
states. 


Yankee Doodle : an Amer. national air. 

Yankee paradise^ The : Paris. In 
allusion to the proverbial expression, 
* All good Americans go to Paris 
when they die.* 

Yarmouth capon, A : a red herring. 

Year, To take the gpring from the : see 
Take. 

Yellow Book, A : an official publication 
by the Fr. Government. After the 
colour of the cover. 


Ydlow hose. To wear: to be jealous. 
In aHusion to yellow as espressive of 
jealousy. [Dekher and Webster, 
Northward Ho, I, iii (1607)] 

Yellow Jack : (i) yellow fever ; (2; the 
yellow flag hoisted by ships to indicate 
contagions disease on board. 

Yellow Journalism : see Yellow Press. 

Yellow Peril, The: the threat of the 
y^ow races (Japan and China) against 
Europe and European civilization. 
Phrase coined by the Emperor Wfiliaxa 
II of Germany. 

YeQow Press, The : the sensational, nn- 
reliable newspaper press. After the 
colour of the paper on which some of 
such newspapers in the UB. were 
printed. 

Y^ow, To wear the : see Wear. 

Yeoman’s servioe : regular hard service. 
With reference to the Yeomen of the 


Free Companies. 

Ydke, To pass under the : to submit one- 
self to defeat. In allusion to the Rom. 
practice of causing a defeated enemy 
to pass under a yoke or arch formed 
of three spears. 

Yoke of . . To shake off tiie : to revolt 
against . . [Bacon, Essays : Of Sedi* 
Hons and Troubles (1625)] 

Yoke-fellows : partners ; esp. a married 
conple. 



Yoricfc] 365 

Yoiick ! Alas, Poor : an exclamation of 
philosophical S3rmpathy. From an 
exclamation used by Hamlet in Shakes- 
peare*s play of that name (1602-3). 

York is to foul Sutton, As like as : quite 
unlike. [H. Stephanus, World of 
Wonders (1607)] 

Yorkshire bite, A : a transaction in which 
the trickster overreaches himself. 

Young Adventurer, The : Charles Edward 
Stuart, the Young Pretender (1720-88). 
Young Buffs, The : the 31st Regt. of 
Foot, which received the name to 
distinguish it from the Buffs (3rd 
Regt.) whose uniforms were similar. 

Young Chevalier, The : Charles Edward 
Stuart, the Young Pretender 
(1720-88). 

Young England : a group of young 
aristocrats formed within the Con- 
servative party by Disraeli and Lord 
John Manners during the period 1833 
to 1846. 

Young Germany ; a progressive political 
and literary school in Germany during 
the first half of the 19th cent., headed 
by Heinrich Heine. 

Young Hickory ; see Hickory. 

Young Ireland ; a group of Irish 
extremists whose activities culminated 
in the Rebellion of 1848. 

Young Italy : the political movement 
started by Mazzini about the year 
1830 for the union of Italy and freedom 
from foreign yoke. 


[Zoilism 

Young Pretender, The : Charles Edward 
Stuart (1720-88), grandson of James 
II of England and son of the Old 
Pretender. 

Young Roscius, The : see Roscius, The 
Young. 

Young Turk, A : see Turk. 


ZaMan World of Fashion, The : the world 
of fashion which admires people of 
notoriety. From stars as the equiva- 
lent in the forefront of the world's 
stage, and Zabians, worshippers of 
the planets. 

Zarp, A ! a South African policeman. 
From the initial letters of Zuid (South) 
African Republican Police. 

Zechariah, The Flying Boll of ; a series 
of predictions of evil. {Zechariah^ 

V, 1-5] 

Zedland : the western counties of 
England, where * s * is pronounced 
as ' z* 

Zenith down to Nadir, From : see Nadir. 

Zeppelin, A : a large dirigible airship. 
After Count Ferdinand Zeppelin (1838- 
1917), Germ, inventor. 

Zeuxis’ grapes : a bunch of grapes said 
to have been painted by Zeuxis (fl. 
420-^390 B.C.), Grk. painter, that was 
so realistic as to attract the birds. 

Zoilism : harsh, ill-natured criticism. 
From Zoilos (400-320 B.C.), a severe 
critic of Homer. 


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